The Divine Cytokine

Tools for Cytokine Research Companies producing cytokines Courtesy of Alexis CorpCytokine Network Many proteins and peptides affect the growth, identity, and function of eukaryotic cells. Very often their effects are highly pleiotropic, making exact boundaries and distinctions between proteins such as hormones, growth factors, and cytokines difficult to pin down. The result is a nomenclature tangle almost as complex as the regulatory circuits these molecules mediate. Although this treatment of

Written byBob Sinclair

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Tools for Cytokine Research

Companies producing cytokines

Courtesy of Alexis Corp

Cytokine Network

Many proteins and peptides affect the growth, identity, and function of eukaryotic cells. Very often their effects are highly pleiotropic, making exact boundaries and distinctions between proteins such as hormones, growth factors, and cytokines difficult to pin down. The result is a nomenclature tangle almost as complex as the regulatory circuits these molecules mediate. Although this treatment of the subject is unlikely to unravel this mystery, it will look at some of the major groups of cytokines and briefly review some of the bigger players in the commercial market.

Cytokines, growth factors, and hormones (as well as other classes of molecules such as neuropeptides, chemokines, and the like) are necessary for communication between the different subcellular, intercellular, and intertissue components of a complex organism. However, the details of the roles and action mechanisms of these molecules often differ.

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