Sandbox Reserved 777: Difference between revisions

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) belongs to a class of proteins called cytokines. Cytokines are chemical messengers that are produced by and act on cells of the immune system.'''(1)'''   It is also part of the IL-10 family of cytokines, which also includes IL-19, IL-20, IL-22, IL-24 and IL-26.  This grouping was made based on similarities in structure, function, and location of the encoding genes.'''(2)'''  IL-10 has also previously been called cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor (CSIF) because of its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to inhibit the production of other cytokines.'''(3)'''  The ability to limit the immune response to pathogens is crucial to preventing self-inflicted damage to the host. This cytokine is expressed in many eukaryotic hosts, as well as some viruses. A quick protein BLAST of the human IL-10 sequence reveals homology with IL-10 of many other primate species, as well as that found in bats, horses, elephants, rodents, sheep, cats and birds.  The remainder of this page will focus on human IL-10.