The function of TRADD in signaling through tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 and TRIF-dependent Toll-like receptors

Abstract
The function of the adaptor protein TRADD is uncertain. Teams led by Pasparakis and Liu solidify TRADD's function in TNF receptor signaling and extend its influence to TRIF-dependent Toll-like receptor pathways. The physiological function of the adaptor protein TRADD remains unclear because of the unavailability of a TRADD-deficient animal model. By generating TRADD-deficient mice, we found here that TRADD serves an important function in tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) signaling by orchestrating the formation of TNFR1 signaling complexes. TRADD was essential for TNFR1 signaling in mouse embryonic fibroblasts but was partially dispensable in macrophages; abundant expression of the adaptor RIP in macrophages may have allowed some transmission of TNFR1 signals in the absence of TRADD. Although morphologically normal, TRADD-deficient mice were resistant to toxicity induced by TNF, lipopolysaccharide and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid. TRADD was also required for TRIF-dependent Toll-like receptor signaling in mouse embryonic fibroblasts but not macrophages. Our findings definitively establish the biological function of TRADD in TNF signaling.