News tagged with cytokines
Study finds key protein for firing up central nervous system inflammation
Scientists have identified an influential link in a chain of events that leads to autoimmune inflammation of the central nervous system in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Medical research
May 02, 2013 |
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Scientists have discovered how mosquitoes develop viral immunity
(Medical Xpress)—Published online in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the team from CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory, in Geelong, have shown Vago, a prote ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Oct 03, 2012 |
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Scientists find underlying mechanisms behind chronic inflammation-associated diseases
(Medical Xpress)—Inflammatory response plays a major role in both health protection and disease generation. While the symptoms of disease-related inflammatory response have been know, scientists have not ...
Inflammatory disorders
Feb 23, 2013 |
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Caffeine may block inflammation linked to mild cognitive impairment
Recent studies have linked caffeine consumption to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a new University of Illinois study may be able to explain how this happens.
Neuroscience
Oct 09, 2012 |
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Roundworm quells obesity and related metabolic disorders
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. ...
Immunology
Apr 25, 2013 |
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Researchers identify a target that could combat allergies of early childhood
A pandemic of ailments called the "allergic march" -- the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood -- has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the ...
Medical research
Aug 14, 2011 |
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Researchers identify potential new HIV vaccine/therapy target
After being infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in a laboratory study, rhesus macaques that had more of a certain type of immune cell in their gut than others had much lower levels of the virus in their blood, ...
HIV & AIDS
May 30, 2012 |
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Study identifies a potential cause of Parkinson's disease
Deciphering what causes the brain cell degeneration of Parkinson's disease has remained a perplexing challenge for scientists. But a team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has pinpointed ...
Parkinson's & Movement disorders
Nov 19, 2012 |
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Primary component in turmeric kicks off cancer-killing mechanisms in human saliva
Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive ...
Cancer
Sep 13, 2011 |
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Alcohol impairs the body's ability to fight off viral infection
Alcohol is known to worsen the effects of disease, resulting in longer recovery period after trauma, injury or burns. It is also known to impair the anti-viral immune response, especially in the liver, including response ...
Health
Sep 30, 2011 |
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Researchers find genetic predictors of fatigue for some prostate cancer patients
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have found that men with prostate cancer who receive androgen deprivation therapy may predictably suffer from fatigue if they have single nucleotide ...
Cancer
Oct 26, 2012 |
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Omega-3 reduces anxiety and inflammation in healthy students
A new study gauging the impact of consuming more fish oil showed a marked reduction both in inflammation and, surprisingly, in anxiety among a cohort of healthy young people.
Health
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Immune activation in pregnant mice affects offspring, potential implications for neurodevelopmental disorders
A brief kick to the immune system of a pregnant mouse can cause persistent changes in the brains of the offspring, according to new research from the University of California, Davis, Center for Neuroscience.
Medical research
Oct 26, 2012 |
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High-salt diet and ulcer bug combine to increase risk of cancer
Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now Timothy L. Cover and colleagues of Vanderbilt University show that high dietary salt combined ...
Immunology
Apr 18, 2013 |
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Topical use of arthritis drug provides relief for dry eye disease
Dry eye disease (DED) is a common condition that causes discomfort, visual disturbance and potentially damaging ocular surface inflammation that greatly impacts a person's quality of life. An estimated nine million people ...
Ophthalmology
Apr 18, 2013 |
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Cytokine
Cytokines (Greek cyto-, cell; and -kinos, movement) are a category of signaling molecules that are used extensively in cellular communication. They are proteins, peptides, or glycoproteins. The term cytokine encompasses a large and diverse family of polypeptide regulators that are produced widely throughout the body by cells of diverse embryological origin.
Basically, the term "cytokine" has been used to refer to the immunomodulating agents (interleukins, interferons, etc.). Conflicting data exists about what is termed a cytokine and what is termed a hormone. Anatomic and structural distinctions between cytokines and classic hormones are fading as we learn more about each. Classic protein hormones circulate in nanomolar (10-9) concentrations that usually vary by less than one order of magnitude. In contrast, some cytokines (such as IL-6) circulate in picomolar (10-12) concentrations that can increase up to 1,000-fold during trauma or infection. The widespread distribution of cellular sources for cytokines may be a feature that differentiates them from hormones. Virtually all nucleated cells, but especially endo/epithelial cells and resident macrophages (many near the interface with the external environment) are potent producers of IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α. In contrast, classic hormones, such as insulin, are secreted from discrete glands (e.g., the pancreas). As of 2008, the current terminology refers to cytokines as immunomodulating agents. However, more research is needed in this area of defining cytokines and hormones.
The action of cytokines may be autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine. Cytokines are critical to the development and functioning of both the innate and adaptive immune response, although not limited to just the immune system. They are often secreted by immune cells that have encountered a pathogen, thereby activating and recruiting further immune cells to increase the system's response to the pathogen. Cytokines are also involved in several developmental processes during embryogenesis.
For more information about Cytokine, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
