Cytokine
From Kidney Cancer Resource
Contents |
Overview
Cytokines are a group of proteins and peptides that are used in organisms as signaling compounds. These chemical signals are similar to hormones and neurotransmitters and are used to allow one cell to communicate with another. The cytokine family consists mainly of smaller water-soluble proteins and glycoproteins (proteins with an added sugar chain) with a mass of between 8 and 30 kDa. While hormones are released from specific organs into the blood and neurotransmitters are released by nerves, cytokines are released by many types of cells. They are particularly important in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Due to their central role in the immune system, cytokines are involved in a variety of immunological, inflammatory and infectious diseases. However, not all their functions are limited to the immune system, as they are also involved in several developmental processes during embryogenesis.
When the immune system is fighting pathogens, cytokines signal immune cells such as T-cells and macrophages to travel to the site of infection. In addition, cytokines activate those cells, stimulating them to produce more cytokines.
Cytokines are produced by a wide variety of cell types (both haemopoietic and non-haemopoietic) and can have effects on both nearby cells or throughout the organism. Sometimes these effects are strongly dependent on the presence of other chemicals and cytokines.
References
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