INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CYTOKINES AND ALPHA-2-MACROGLOBULIN

Cytokines are often thought of as short range, short half-life molecules. This view may now be challenged by recent findings that indicate that α2-macroglobulin and antibodies to cytokines may alter cytokine kinetics in vivo. α2-Macroglobulin, one of the major proteins in serum, can bind a wide range of physiologically important molecules. As Keith James reviews, the interaction between α2-macroglobulin and a number of cytokines has recently come under scrutiny, revealing a new and potentially important mechanism for the modulation of cytokine activity, while in the following paper a modulatory role for anti-cytokine antibodies is considered. © 1990.