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Novel Lymphotoxin Alpha (LTα) Knockout Mice with Unperturbed Tumor Necrosis Factor Expression: Reassessing LTα Biological Functions

ABSTRACT Lymphotoxin alpha (LTα) can exist in soluble form and exert tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like activity through TNF receptors. Based on the phenotypes of knockout (KO) mice, the physiological functions of LTα and TNF are considered partly redundant, in particular, in supporting the microarchitecture of the spleen and in host defense. We exploited Cre-LoxP technology to generate a novel neomycin resistance gene (neo) cassette-free LTα-deficient mouse strain (neo-free LTα KO [LTαΔ/Δ]). Unlike the “conventional” LTα−/− mice, new LTαΔ/Δ animals were capable of producing normal levels of systemic TNF upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge and were susceptible to LPS/d-galactosamine (D-GalN) toxicity. Activated neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages from LTαΔ/Δ mice expressed TNF normally at both the mRNA and protein levels as opposed to conventional LTα KO mice, which showed substantial decreases in TNF. Additionally, the spleens of the neo-free LTα KO mice displayed several features resembling those of LTβ KO mice rather than conventional LTα KO animals. The phenotype of the new LTαΔ/Δ mice indicates that LTα plays a smaller role in lymphoid organ maintenance than previously thought and has no direct role in the regulation of TNF expression.