Taken together, as summarized in Figure 2, P2X7R plays important roles in gastrointestinal inflammation and infection through upregulating proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, CCL20, IL-33), downregulating anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10, TGF-β1), modulating immune responses, inflammasome activation, and increasing permeability of the cell leading to increased apoptosis. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is infection.