Interleukins

The humoral signaling molecules that cells of the immune system use to communicate with each other are called cytokines. A very important group of cytokines are the interleukins (ILs). These are mostly short peptide chains. Their effects are both autocrine, paracrine and endocrine. They serve as humoral communication between specific immunity and natural immunity cells. They are produced mostly by helper T-ly, APCs and macrophages.

Function overview
Interleukins have very different functions. An overview of the most important ones is given in the table.

Related articles

 * Cytokines
 * Specific immunity
 * Natural immunity
 * Interferons
 * CSF