| Further Information: | Interleukin-4(IL-4), an anti-inflammatory cytokine, plays significant role in pathogenesis of various diseases such as asthma, tumors, and HIV infections. IL-4 is firstly identified as a T cell-derived growth factor for B cells. IL-4 can mediate important pro-inflammatory functions in asthma, including T helper cell type 2 lymphocyte differentiation, induction of IgE production, up-regulation of IgE receptors, expression of vascular cell-adhesion molecule 1, promotion of eosinophil transmigration into the lungs, inhibition of T-lymphocyte apoptosis, and mucus hypersecretion. The role of IL-4 in the pathogenesis of asthma is supported by identification of polymorphisms linked to asthma in the IL-4 gene promoter and proteins involved in IL-4 signaling. |
