Vascular endothelium is a major target of actions of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor
necrosis factor (TNF). Increasingly, the intracellular pathways that are activated in response
to TNF have been elucidated. Many of these pathways have proven to be cell type-specific,
requiring that observations made in other cell types be confirmed or ruled out in endothelial
cells (EC). In this review the authors will summarize the state of the field, emphasizing
studies in cultured human EC.