Kashiwamura S, Okamura H
Laboratory of Host Defenses, Hyogo College of Medicine.
Nihon Rinsho. 1998 Jul;56(7):1798-806.
Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a recently cloned cytokine, produced from activated macrophages, including Kupffer cells. IL-18 is originally called interferon-gamma inducing factor (IGIF), due to its action to induce IFN-gamma production from Th 1 cells and NK cells. However, recent studies suggested that, IL-18 also enhances expression of FasL and NK activity as well as GM-CSF production. These data revealed this novel cytokine is pleiotropic. Recently, cDNA encoding human IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) was cloned. And, we had cloned murine IL-18R cDNA by RT-PCR, using human IL-18R sequence. Northern blot analysis of cytoplasmic RNA from T cells stimulated with IL-12 clearly demonstrated that, T cells stimulated with IL-12 induced high level of IL-18R-mRNA, whereas non-stimulated T cells did not have. Interestingly, we had several reports, indicated the involvement of IL-18 on the progressions of pathogenicity in chronic inflammatory diseases, including endotoxin-shock, hepatitis and autoimmune-diabetes. We need further studies to reveal physiological roles of this novel cytokine in various inflammatory or autoimmune diseases.
白细胞介素-18（IL-18）是一种最近克隆出的细胞因子，由包括库普弗细胞在内的活化巨噬细胞产生。IL-18最初被称为干扰素-γ诱导因子（IGIF），因为它能诱导Th1细胞和NK细胞产生IFN-γ。然而，最近的研究表明，IL-18还能增强FasL的表达、NK活性以及GM-CSF的产生。这些数据表明这种新型细胞因子具有多效性。最近，编码人IL-18受体（IL-18R）的cDNA被克隆出来。而且，我们利用人IL-18R序列通过RT-PCR克隆了小鼠IL-18R cDNA。用IL-12刺激的T细胞的细胞质RNA的Northern印迹分析清楚地表明，用IL-12刺激的T细胞诱导出高水平的IL-18R-mRNA，而未刺激的T细胞则没有。有趣的是，我们有几篇报道指出IL-18参与了包括内毒素休克、肝炎和自身免疫性糖尿病在内的慢性炎症性疾病的发病过程。我们需要进一步的研究来揭示这种新型细胞因子在各种炎症或自身免疫性疾病中的生理作用。
