Molecular mechanism of action of anti-tumor necrosis factor antibodies in inflammatory bowel diseases

Figure 1 Expression of membrane-bound tumor necrosis factor in the gut. Gut tissue of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) was cryo-frozen and stained for cell markers by immunofluorescence. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. A: Staining for mTNF (green). B: Staining for mTNF (green) and CD14 (red). Co-expressing cells are labeled with an arrow.

Figure 2 Mechanism of action of anti-tumor necrosis factor antibodies in inflammatory bowel disease. Schematic illustration of different modes of action of anti-TNF antibodies in inflammatory bowel diseases. TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; mTNF: Membrane-bound TNF; sTNF: Soluble TNF; TNFR: TNF receptor; NK cell: Natural killer cell; ADCC: Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity; CD: Crohn’s disease; CDC: Complement-dependent cytotoxicity; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide.