[grey_whiskers]

Working in liver cancer cell lines, the team discovered a mechanism by which tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) stimulates tumor formation

So they named it wrong when they first discovered it, did they ? ;-)

Cheers!

...oh, and Merry Christmas!

[exDemMom]

It isn't necessarily misnamed. A protein like TNFα can have quite different functions, depending on context (like cell type, environmental factors, etc.). Also, a certain function can be associated with the absence of a specific protein, rather than its presence.