Courtesy of BD Biosciences-Pharmingen
Pharmingen's RiboQuant multi-probe RNAse Protection Assay system, coupled with the hCK-2 multi-probe template set, measures the expression of eight cytokine genes and two internal controls (L32 and GAPDH) at once
The immune system is often likened to the military. The body's army has weapons such as antibodies and complement, and soldiers such as macrophage and natural T cells. The immune system also sports an impressive communications infrastructure, in the form of intercellular protein messengers called cytokines and the cellular receptors that recognize them.
The cytokine family consists of such soluble growth factors as the interleukins, interferons, and tumor necrosis factors, among others. Once the specialized province of immunologists, these proteins are now appreciated for the roles they play in conditions as diverse as atherosclerosis and herpes zoster, and their measurement has become an integral part of both clinical diagnostics and biomedical research.
Often, researchers study cytokine ...
