Cytokines and cytokine measurements in a clinical laboratory.
Abstract
Receive: RSS Feeds, eTOCs, free email alerts (when new articles cite this article), more» Information about commercial reprint orders: http://cvi.asm.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml To subscribe to to another ASM Journal go to: http://journals.asm.org/site/subscriptions/ CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY IMMUNOLOGY, May 1994, p. 257-260 Vol. 1, No. 3 1071-412X/94/$04.00+0 Copyright © 1994, American Society for Microbiology THERESA L. WHITESIDE* Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Departments of Pathology and Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 Cytokines are low-molecular-mass (generally, <20,000 kDa) proteins that are produced by leukocytes and a variety of other cell types. Cytokines are increasingly recognized as essential and powerful regulatory and communication molecules. They are a diverse group of proteins involved in homeostasis, defense against infectious agents, and the pathogenesis of many human diseases. Although there are many different cytokines, which are produced by a variety of cell types and which frequently form cytokine networks, several characteristics are universally shared by all cytokines, as follows. (i) Cytokines represent a diverse group of low-molecular-mass proteins with pleiotropic effects; (ii) cytokine production and expression of cytokine mnRNA are highly regulated; (iii) cytokines are produced by a variety of cell types; (iv) several types of cytokines may be produced by one