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Cytokines

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases

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Synonyms

Cytokines; Interleukins; Lymphokines

Definition

Cytokines are any of various proteins, secreted by cells, that carry signals, mostly in the context of pathophysiology, to neighboring cells.

Introduction

Cytokines are secreted proteins with growth, differentiation, and activation functions that regulate and direct the nature of immune responses. They are involved in many facets of immunity and inflammation, including innate and adaptive immune stimulation, antigen presentation, hematopoietic stem cell differentiation, cellular recruitment and activation, and adhesion molecule expression. The cytokine profile produced in response to an immune stimulus determines whether that response is cytotoxic, humoral, cell mediated, allergic, or tolerogenic. Since cytokines serve as critical mediators of the immune response, they are attractive targets for therapeutic intervention in a variety of disorders for which inflammation plays a central role. For this entry, it is impossible to...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carter Center for Immunology Research, Asthma and Allergic Disease Center, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-1355, USA

    John W. Steinke

  2. Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 13 Children’s Way, Slot 512-13, Little Rock, AR, 72202, USA

    Joshua L. Kennedy

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  1. John W. Steinke
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  2. Joshua L. Kennedy
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Correspondence to John W. Steinke .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst of Clinical Pharmacology Haus 74/75, JW Goethe University Frankfurt Fraunhofer IME, Frankfurt, Germany

    Michael Parnham

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Steinke, J.W., Kennedy, J.L. (2013). Cytokines. In: Parnham, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_208-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_208-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-0620-6

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