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How microorganisms tip the balance between interleukin-12 family members

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 8, pages 81–86 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Interleukin-12p70 (IL-12p70) induces T-helper-1-cell responses and IL-23, a related cytokine, is the master switch in several T-cell-mediated inflammatory disorders. IL-27, another member of the IL-12 family, regulates innate and adaptive immune responses. Recently, distinct combinations of transcription factors have been shown to regulate the expression of the genes that encode these three cytokines. Toll-like receptor ligands, in association with other microbial products and endogenous mediators, tip the balance between the expression of IL-12 family members and thereby may control the outcome of T-cell-mediated inflammation. On this basis, we present a novel perspective on the pathogenesis and regulation of inflammatory disorders.

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Figure 1: Key features of IL-12 family members produced by dendritic cells.
Figure 2: Transcriptional regulation of IL-12p70 and IL-23.
Figure 3: Transcriptional regulation of IL-27.
Figure 4: Modulation of TH17-cell-mediated inflammation by TLR agonists: a hypothetical model.

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  1. Markus F. Neurath and Michel Goldman: These authors contributed equally to this work.

  2. Markus F. Neurath is at the Laboratory of Immunology, First Medical Clinic, University of Mainz, Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55101 Mainz, Germany

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  1. Stanislas Goriely and Michel Goldman are at the Institute for Medical Immunology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 8 rue Adrienne Bolland, B-6041 Charleroi, Belgium.,

    Stanislas Goriely, Markus F. Neurath & Michel Goldman

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Michel Goldman serves as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (Rixensart, Belgium) and OM-Pharma (Meyrin, Switzerland).

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Goriely, S., Neurath, M. & Goldman, M. How microorganisms tip the balance between interleukin-12 family members. Nat Rev Immunol 8, 81–86 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2225

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