Acta Med. 2010, 53: 125-129
The Counter-Regulation of Atherogenesis: a Role for Interleukin-33
The recently recognized cytokine interleukin-33 and its receptor ST2 play a favorable role during atherogenesis by inducing a Th1→Th2 shift of the immune response. IL-33 also protects the failing human heart from harmful biomechanical forces which lead to cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and exaggerated interstitial fibrosis. IL-33 inevitably displays side effects common to other Th2 cytokines, the most grave of which is a predisposition to allergic reactions. IL-33 is a nuclear transcription factor of endothelial cells. As such, it is abundant in nonproliferating vessels. Its down-regulation is required for angiogenesis, which may be profitable in wound healing or deleterious in tumor growth.
Keywords
Interleukin-33, ST2 receptor, Th2 immune response, Atherosclerosis, Antibodies, Angiogenesis.
Funding
This work was supported by Ministry of Education, Czech Republic, project No. MSM0021620812.
References
Copyright
Published by the Karolinum Press. For permission to use please write to actamedica@lfhk.cuni.cz.
