ISSN:
0265-9247
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Cytokines are polypeptides released by activated vertebrate blood cells which have profound effects on other blood cells and which have hormone-like properties affecting other organ systems as well. In recent years a wide variety of these mediators has been isolated and characterized. Many of these molecules have subsequently been cloned and expressed in E. coli. The tremendous importance of these proteins to host immune and non-specific defense systems along with the striking similarities of their properties among different species suggested to us that cytokines may have been proteins that have been conserved through evolution. Investigations of the evolution of cytokines will help us decipher the complex cellular, humoral and molecular interactions that regulate host defenses. Studies of the invertebrates will shed light on the phylogenetic emergence of these molecules as well.
Additional Material:
2 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.950110206
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