The Interleukins

The interleukins in acquired disease.

Neuroimmunology of the Interleukins 13 and 4

The cytokines interleukin 13 and 4 share a common heterodimeric receptor and are important modulators of peripheral allergic reactions. Produced primarily by T-helper type 2 lymphocytes, they are typically considered as anti-inflammatory cytokines because they can downregulate the synthesis of T-helper type 1 pro-inflammatory cytokines. Their presence and role in the brain is only beginning to ...

Interleukins adapt to parasites

TLR choreography Pathogen-sensing Toll-like receptors (TLRs) must be deployed accurately. Here, Fukui et al. show how finely tuned these receptors are. Tweaking a single amino acid in a TLR-trafficking molecule determined whether the signal was green or red for nucleic acid–sensing TLRs (page 1339). TLR7 and TLR9 recognize viral nucleic acids—RNA and DNA, respectively—in endolysosomes. By seque...

The functional relationship of the interleukins

The mechanism of the lymphoproliferative effect of the macrophage product lymphocyte-activating factor [LAF(IL1] appears to be mediated by the stimulation of the release of T cell growth factor [TCGF(IL2)] by T cells. The magnitude of the resultant T cell proliferative clonal expansion is thus dependent upon the quantity of both LAF(IL1) and TCGF(IL2) induced by antigen or lectin stimulation. T...

Interleukins and neurohormones: a common language.