Hawley R G
Division of Cancer Research, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stem Cells. 1994;12 Suppl 1:155-71.
Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-11, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) constitute a subfamily of cytokines on the basis of similar predicted structures and functional redundancy in their actions on a wide spectrum of cell types. Among the diverse targets of these pleiotropic factors are adipocytes, embryonic stem cells, hepatocytes, and cells belonging to the hematopoietic, immune and nervous systems. An explanation for the shared biologic activities of IL-6 subfamily members is provided by the finding that these cytokines trigger overlapping signal transduction pathways in responsive cells through a common receptor subunit, termed gp130. With the exception of CNTF, which appears to function primarily within the nervous system, IL-6-type cytokines differ from classical hormones in that they are synthesized by many tissues, frequently in association with disease states or in response to infection or injury. This article discusses the hematologic effects of dysregulated expression of IL-6 and related cytokines, highlighting results obtained in our laboratory with murine models of cytokine excess created by retroviral gene delivery to the hematopoietic system.
白细胞介素（IL）-6、IL-11、白血病抑制因子（LIF）、抑瘤素M（OSM）和睫状神经营养因子（CNTF）基于其相似的预测结构以及对多种细胞类型作用的功能冗余性，构成了一个细胞因子亚家族。这些多效性因子的不同靶细胞包括脂肪细胞、胚胎干细胞、肝细胞以及造血、免疫和神经系统的细胞。这些白细胞介素-6亚家族成员具有共同生物学活性的一个解释是，发现这些细胞因子通过一个称为gp130的共同受体亚基，在反应性细胞中触发重叠的信号转导途径。除了主要在神经系统内发挥作用的CNTF外，白细胞介素-6型细胞因子与经典激素不同，因为它们由许多组织合成，常常与疾病状态相关，或对感染或损伤作出反应。本文讨论白细胞介素-6及相关细胞因子表达失调的血液学效应，重点介绍我们实验室利用逆转录病毒基因导入造血系统建立的细胞因子过量小鼠模型所获得的结果。
