TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor α), also termed Cachectin, Cytotoxic Factor (CF), Hemorrhagic Factor, Macrophage Cytotoxic Factor (MCF), is a potent multifunctional cytokine which can exert regulatory, inflammatory and cytotoxic effects on a wide range of normal lymphoid, non-lymphoid cells, and tumor cells. TNF-α is secreted by macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils, T-cells, NK-cells, and many transformed cell lines. It exists as a soluble 17.5 kD protein and a 26 kD membrane-associated protein. The soluble form protein derives from the membrane form by proteolytic processing.? Dephosphorylation of the membrane form occurs by binding to soluble TNFRSF1A/TNFR1. TNF-α binding to surface receptors elicits a wide array of biological activities including: cytolysis and cytostasis of many tumor cell lines in vitro, hemorrhagic necrosis of tumors in vivo, increased fibroblast proliferation, and enhanced chemotaxis and phagocytosis in neutrophils.? It has been shown that TNF-α plays a critical role in many physiological and pathological conditions including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.This kit is specifically designed for the accurate quantitation of Rat TNF-α from cell culture supernatant, serum, plasma, or other biological fluids.? It is designed to meet the increasing use of rat models in biomedical studies.