Gut-Busters: IL-17 Ain’t Afraid of No IL-23

Cytokines (IL-17, IL-23, and IL-33) in Systemic lupus erythematosus in Trinidad and Tobago.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the most common autoimmune disease. It is characterized by the presence of hundreds of autoantibodies against many organs and tissues, including the presence of a large number of autoantibodies, which are specific to self-antigens mainly of nuclear origin such as Smith antigen, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), anti-Sjögren’s syndrome-related antigen A and B (SS...

The Role of IL-23/IL-17 Axis in Lupus

Understanding the IL-23-IL-17 immune pathway.

Interleukin (IL)-23 is a heterodimeric cytokine closely related to IL-12. Yet, despite a strong structural relationship that includes a shared p40 subunit, this does not translate into functional similarity. In fact, the opposite is true, in that these two cytokines appear to have profoundly different roles in regulating host immune responses. It is now clear that IL-23 has key roles in autoimm...

IL-23 drives pathogenic IL-17-producing CD8+ T cells.

IL-17-producing CD8(+) T cells (Tc17) appear to play a role in a range of conditions, such as autoimmunity and cancer. Thus far, Tc17 cells have been only marginally studied, resulting in a paucity of data on their biology and function. We demonstrate that Tc17 and Th17 cells share similar developmental characteristics, including the previously unknown promoting effect of IL-21 on Tc17 cell dif...

The IL-23/IL-17 axis in inflammation.

IL-23 induces the differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells into highly pathogenic helper T cells (Th17/Th(IL-17)) that produce IL-17, IL-17F, IL-6, and TNF-alpha, but not IFN-gamma and IL-4. Two studies in this issue of the JCI demonstrate that blocking IL-23 or its downstream factors IL-17 and IL-6, but not the IL-12/IFN-gamma pathways, can significantly suppress disease development in animal m...