Following a traumatic injury, why does persistent, elevated signaling by the cytokine TNF-α increase the risk of chronic inflammation in affected tissues?

💡 Explanation

Persistent TNF-α signaling leads to chronic inflammation because it causes sustained activation of the transcription factor NF-κB, which promotes continued expression of pro-inflammatory genes. Therefore, NF-κB activation maintains inflammation, rather than a resolution phase, because anti-inflammatory pathways are not effectively upregulated to counteract this effect.

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