Kelso A.
The enigma of cytokine redundancy, Immunol Cell Biol 72(1) :97-101, 1994.
Abstract
The redundancy of many cytokine functions that was first noted in vitro has now been confirmed in vivo with the demonstration that some of
these functions can occur in mice rendered deficient in a cytokine or cytokine receptor by gene inactivation. Other functions are ablated in
these mice, suggesting that they are cytokine-specific. Although some of the underlying mechanisms have been identified, it remains unclear
why certain activities of a cytokine should be unique and others redundant. It is proposed that compensatory mechanisms exist only for
those cytokine functions whose inappropriate or excessive activation would not be pathogenic or whose importance justifies this risk.
Conversely, cytokine-specific functions might be those that should be tightly regulated to avoid the pathological consequences of their
inadvertent expression.
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