In mammals, TIR domain adapters, including Myd88, TIRAP, TICAM-1 (also called TRIF), and TRAM, act in Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway. The last member of this family called SARM (sterile and armadillo motifs) is highly conserved but has no known function in any organism. SARM is the only mammalian TIR-domain adapter proteins conserved in C. elegans, suggesting that SARM is the most ancient member of this class of signaling proteins. Overexpression of SARM fails to activate either NF-kB- or IRF-3-dependent reporter gene expression, two transcription factors that are sensitive to TLR signaling, suggesting that SARM is functionally distinct from other mammalian TIR domain-containing proteins.
Intended for research use only. Not for use in human, therapeutic, or diagnostic applications.