Tumor necrosis factor α promotes the expression of stem cell factor in synovial fibroblasts and their capacity to induce mast cell chemotaxis

Abstract

Our results show that SFB (in RA and OA) express SCF and induce MC chemotaxis. Furthermore, TNFalpha was found to augment SCF expression in SFB. It is hypothesized that these cellular interactions play an important role in MC accumulation and related events in RA.