2. Academic Validation
  3. Biology of IL-36 cytokines and their role in disease

Biology of IL-36 cytokines and their role in disease

  • Semin Immunol. 2013 Dec 15;25(6):458-65. doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2013.11.003.
Mark S Gresnigt 1,  Frank L van de Veerdonk 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Nijmegen Institute for Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity (N4i), The Netherlands.
  • 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Nijmegen Institute for Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity (N4i), The Netherlands; Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 24355486 DOI: 10.1016/j.smim.2013.11.003
Abstract

IL-36α, IL-36β, IL-36γ, and IL-36RA, collectively called IL-36 cytokines, are part of the IL-1 family. IL-36α, IL-36β, and IL-36γ are IL-36 receptor (IL-36R) agonists, while IL-36RA is a receptor antagonist that blocks the activation of IL-36R signaling. IL-36 cytokines require processing in order to become fully active, however the protease(s) responsible for this are currently not known. The IL-36 receptor pathway activates dendritic cells and plays a role in polarizing T-helper responses. The skin is the predominant site where IL-36 cytokines are expressed and several reports have established that they play a significant role in the pathogenesis of skin diseases. In this review the discovery and biological function of the cytokines IL-36α, IL-36β, IL-36γ and IL-36RA will be discussed, and their role in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of diseases.

Keywords

IL-1 family; Interleukin-36; Pathogenesis; Skin inflammation.

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