PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ROLES OF CYTOKINES IN DEVELOPMENT, IMMUNITY, AND INFLAMMATION

The symposium on The Role of Cytokines in Inflammation held at The Ame rican Association of Immunologists meeting in Denver, Colorado on May 25, 1993, was organized by Drs. Maureen Howard and Joost J. Oppenheim to reflect 30 years of progress in the field. Dr. John David, who firs t reported a cytokine, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF),(2 ) reviewed the subsequent isolation, sequencing, cDNA cloning, express ion, and characterization of this pioneer among cytokines. The propert ies of interleukins-12 and -13 (IL-12, IL-13) were presented by their discoverers, Drs. Maurice Gately and Gerard Zurawski, respectively. Tw o speakers addressed the pathophysiological roles of tumor growth fact or beta (TGF beta), a pluripotent cytokine with contrasting anti-infla mmatory and immunoenhancing properties. Dr. Ron Diebold's studies of m ice deficient in TGF beta 1 document the crucial anti-inflammatory rol e of this cytokine in normal animals whereas Dr. Sharon Wahl's studies of the role of TGF beta in arthritis reveal the proinflammatory prope nsities. Studies of the role of cytokines in immunodeficient mice by D r. Emil Unanue revealed their pivotal role in early nonimmunological h ost defense processes. Dr. Scott Durum elucidated crucial roles for cy tokines in the development of the immune system by inducing rearrangem ent of the T cell receptor gene in thymocytes. Finally, the immunoregu latory roles of TH1 or TH2 cytokines were considered by Drs. Robert Mo dlin and Gene Shearer to determine whether cellular or humoral immunit y prevails in infectious diseases such as leprosy, leishmaniasis, tube rculosis, and AIDS.