IL-6 pathway in the liver: From physiopathology to therapy.

By D. Schmidt-Arras, S. Rose‐John. Journal of Hepatology, 2016

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Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic four-helix-bundle cytokine that exerts multiple functions in the body. In the liver, IL-6 is an important inducer of the acute phase response and infection defense. IL-6 is furthermore crucial for hepatocyte homeostasis and is a potent hepatocyte mitogen. It is not only implicated in liver regeneration, but also in metabolic function of the liver. However, persistent activation of the IL-6 signaling pathway is detrimental to the liver and might ultimately result in the development of liver tumors. On target cells IL-6 can bind to the signal transducing subunit gp130 either in complex with the membrane-bound or with the soluble IL-6 receptor to induce intracellular signaling. In this review we describe how these different pathways are involved in the physiology and pathophyiology of the liver. We furthermore discuss how IL-6 pathways can be selectively inhibited and therapeutically exploited for the treatment of liver pathologies.

Subfields: Cancer Research, Immunology, Oncology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/475d5a2af141aef15b1a1a8fb6b45473f2ce0e4b