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Interleukin‐18
Author(s) -
Gracie J. Alastair,
Robertson Susan E.,
McInnes Iain B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of leukocyte biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.819
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1938-3673
pISSN - 0741-5400
DOI - 10.1189/jlb.0602313
Subject(s) - biology , autoimmunity , complementary dna , cytokine , peptide sequence , amino acid , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , interleukin , immune system , gene , biochemistry
Interleukin‐18 (IL‐18), a recently described member of the IL‐1 cytokine superfamily, is now recognized as an important regulator of innate and acquired immune responses. IL‐18 is expressed at sites of chronic inflammation, in autoimmune diseases, in a variety of cancers, and in the context of numerous infectious diseases. This short review will describe the basic biology of IL‐18 and thereafter address its potential effector and regulatory role in several human disease states including autoimmunity and infection. IL‐18, previously known as interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ)‐inducing factor, was identified as an endotoxin‐induced serum factor that stimulated IFN‐γ production by murine splenocytes [1]. IL‐18 was cloned from a murine liver cell cDNA library generated from animals primed with heat‐killed Propionibacterium acnes and subsequently challenged with lipopolysaccharide [2]. Nucleotide sequencing of murine IL‐18 predicted a precursor polypeptide of 192 amino acids lacking a conventional signal peptide and a mature protein of 157 amino acids. Subsequent cloning of human IL‐18 cDNA revealed 65% homology with murine IL‐18 [3] and showed that both contain n unusual leader sequence consisting of 35 amino acids at their N terminus.