Invitrogen™ Rat Fas ELISA Kit

FAS (Fas, CD95, APO-1) is a 46 kDa transmembrane glycoprotein that functions as a cell death receptor of the TNFR (tumor necrosis factor receptor) superfamily. FAS also exists in a soluble form that weight approximately 26kDa. Stimulation of FAS results in aggregation of its intracellular FAS-associated death domains (FADD), formation of the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) and activation of caspases. The auto-proteolytic processing of the caspases in the complex trigger a downstream cascade that leads to apoptosis. FAS has been shown to activate NF-kappaB, MAPK3/ERK1, MAPK8/JNK, and is involved in transducing the proliferating signals in normal diploid fibroblast and T cells. At least eight alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding seven distinct isoforms have been described. The isoforms lacking the transmembrane domain may negatively regulate the apoptosis mediated by the full-length isoform. The Fas/Fas ligand system has been shown to play a role in a number of human diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis and cancer. It is also assumed that induction of apoptosis through FAS ligand pathway is predominantly involved in anti-viral immune responses.