Department of Clinical Application of Biologics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Rheumatic Diseases, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2016;941:79-88. doi: 10.1007/978-94-024-0921-5_4.
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a prototypical cytokine with functional pleiotropy and plays an important role in host defense. When infections or tissue injuries occur, IL-6 is promptly produced by monocytes and macrophages and contributes to removal of infectious agents and restoration of damaged tissues through activation of immune, hematological, and acute-phase responses. Once stress is removed from the host, IL-6 synthesis ends, but uncontrolled excessive or persistent IL-6 production plays a pathological role in the development of various inflammatory diseases and cancers, indicating that IL-6 is a double-edged sword for the host. Thus, the proper IL-6 expression is very important for host defense and is strictly controlled by chromatin structure, transcriptional regulation, and posttranscriptional modification. Differentiation status of cells, various transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs are involved in this process. Since it is assumed that dysregulation of any of these regulatory molecules may cause abnormal IL-6 expression in a particular disease, further elucidation of the factors and processes involved in IL-6 expression can be expected to facilitate to clarification of pathogenesis and to identification of novel target molecule(s) for specific diseases.
白细胞介素-6（IL-6）是一种具有功能多样性的典型细胞因子，在宿主防御中起着重要作用。当发生感染或组织损伤时，单核细胞和巨噬细胞会迅速产生 IL-6，并通过激活免疫、血液和急性期反应来帮助清除感染因子和修复受损组织。一旦宿主的应激消除，IL-6 的合成就会结束，但不受控制的过度或持续的 IL-6 产生在各种炎症性疾病和癌症的发展中起着病理性作用，这表明 IL-6 对宿主是一把双刃剑。因此，适当的 IL-6 表达对宿主防御非常重要，并且受到染色质结构、转录调节和转录后修饰的严格控制。细胞的分化状态、各种转录因子、RNA 结合蛋白和 microRNA 都参与了这一过程。由于假设这些调节分子中的任何一个失调都可能导致特定疾病中 IL-6 的异常表达，因此进一步阐明参与 IL-6 表达的因素和过程有望促进发病机制的阐明，并鉴定特定疾病的新的靶分子。
