CYTOKINE-BINDING PROTEINS - STIMULATING ANTAGONISTS

Cytokine-binding proteins (CBPs) block the ability of cytokines to int eract with their receptors. These agents can potentially provide a mea ns of treating pathological conditions that have a significant cytokin e involvement. However, a major drawback of such approaches relates to the fact that CBPs stabilize the cytokine in the form of a cytokine-C BP complex in vivo. Here, Bernard Klein and Herve Brailly discuss the possibility that CBPs behave either as agonists or antagonists accordi ng to their pharmacokinetic characteristics in vivo, and suggest a mec hanism by which stable complexes might be cleared from the system.