Cytokines, or immune-cytokines, are a group of immune-modulatory proteins, also termed as immune-transmitters that are produced by different cells, especially cells of the immune system, either as a response to an immune stimulus or as an intracellular signal after certain stimulation. Cytokines have a multitude of different biological effects, both in the innate and adaptive immunity and can target various cell types and the activity on cells depend on the expression of cytokine specific receptors on the cell membrane. Cytokines can function pro- as well as anti-inflammatory depending on the condition by which they are released from the cells. However, the balance and combination of cytokines exert variable effects in resolving inflammatory exudates, cell–cell interactions lead to the generation of active signals that limit further cell recruitment to the tissue and thereby promoting a return to homeostasis. This combination of cytokine mediated activation leads to specialized signaling pathways, including transcriptionally- regulated processes or ligand-dependent, or the cellular processes by which the pathway is activated. With the advent of selective inhibitors of these signaling pathways, modulation of signaling downstream of cytokine receptors has become an attractive target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.
The study of the regulation of cytokines during inflammatory responses potentiates the development of more effective therapies. Given that many of these involve the regulation of various biological processes, cytokine modulation in the inflammatory responses becomes a key event to effectively control disease progression. On a more basic level, the biochemistry of cytokine and their associated molecules’ expression, release, and their signaling mechanisms downstream, become a paradigm for understanding rapid, evolutionarily conserved surface to nucleus signal transfer, understanding how extracellular stimulus are sensed and translated into the control of gene expression. Moreover, cytokines by themselves and their antagonists have become some of the most successful new drugs. Advances in the understanding of cytokine-mediated disease pathology and recognizing how do these multi-fuctional cytokines exert their unique effects on inflammatory cells’ behavior become a very active area in the development of novel therapeutic agents with greater specificity.
This Research Topic will comprise of Case Reports, Hypothesis and Theory, Reviews, Perspectives, Brief Research Reports and Original Research articles considering all aspects of cytokines, as well as their downstream signaling. This includes their expression, signaling morphology in various cell types and tissues linked with different disease indications, as well as their clinical implications in the novel treatment strategies.
Topic Editor Paul Smith is an employee and shareholder of Incyte Corporation. All the other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject
Cytokines, or immune-cytokines, are a group of immune-modulatory proteins, also termed as immune-transmitters that are produced by different cells, especially cells of the immune system, either as a response to an immune stimulus or as an intracellular signal after certain stimulation. Cytokines have a multitude of different biological effects, both in the innate and adaptive immunity and can target various cell types and the activity on cells depend on the expression of cytokine specific receptors on the cell membrane. Cytokines can function pro- as well as anti-inflammatory depending on the condition by which they are released from the cells. However, the balance and combination of cytokines exert variable effects in resolving inflammatory exudates, cell–cell interactions lead to the generation of active signals that limit further cell recruitment to the tissue and thereby promoting a return to homeostasis. This combination of cytokine mediated activation leads to specialized signaling pathways, including transcriptionally- regulated processes or ligand-dependent, or the cellular processes by which the pathway is activated. With the advent of selective inhibitors of these signaling pathways, modulation of signaling downstream of cytokine receptors has become an attractive target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.
The study of the regulation of cytokines during inflammatory responses potentiates the development of more effective therapies. Given that many of these involve the regulation of various biological processes, cytokine modulation in the inflammatory responses becomes a key event to effectively control disease progression. On a more basic level, the biochemistry of cytokine and their associated molecules’ expression, release, and their signaling mechanisms downstream, become a paradigm for understanding rapid, evolutionarily conserved surface to nucleus signal transfer, understanding how extracellular stimulus are sensed and translated into the control of gene expression. Moreover, cytokines by themselves and their antagonists have become some of the most successful new drugs. Advances in the understanding of cytokine-mediated disease pathology and recognizing how do these multi-fuctional cytokines exert their unique effects on inflammatory cells’ behavior become a very active area in the development of novel therapeutic agents with greater specificity.
This Research Topic will comprise of Case Reports, Hypothesis and Theory, Reviews, Perspectives, Brief Research Reports and Original Research articles considering all aspects of cytokines, as well as their downstream signaling. This includes their expression, signaling morphology in various cell types and tissues linked with different disease indications, as well as their clinical implications in the novel treatment strategies.
Topic Editor Paul Smith is an employee and shareholder of Incyte Corporation. All the other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject