The Death Receptor Family and the Extrinsic Pathway

Death receptors are cell-surface cytokine receptors belonging to the tumor necrosis factor/nerve growth factor (TNF/NGF) receptor superfamily that trigger apoptosis after binding a group of structurally related ligands or specific antibodies (1–3). The members of this family are type-I transmembrane proteins with a C-terminal intracellular tail, a membrane-spanning region, and an extracellular ligand-binding N-terminal domain. They are characterized by a significant homology in a region containing one to five cysteine-rich repeats in their extracellular domains, and in a 60- to 80-amino acid cytoplasmic sequence known as death domain (DD), which typically enables death receptors to initiate the death signal.KeywordsDeath ReceptorDeath DomainTrail ReceptorDeath Effector DomainAutoimmune Lymphoproliferative SyndromeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.