Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on interleukin-8 (IL-8) and related chemotactic
cytokines—namely, CXC and CC chemokines. IL-8 is the best known member of a new�…

Abstract In 1977, Mason and Williams developed the concept of the alveolar epithelial type II
(AE2) cell as a defender of the alveolus. It is well known that AE2 cells synthesise, secrete�…

Studies into the effects of ultrafine particles in the lung have shown adverse effects
considered to be due in part to the particle size. Air pollution particles (PM10) are associated�…

Pathogenic bacteria that penetrate the intestinal epithelial barrier stimulate an inflammatory
response in the adjacent intestinal mucosa. The present studies asked whether colon�…

A major goal of biomedicine is to understand the function of every gene in the human
genome. Loss-of-function mutations can disrupt both copies of a given gene in humans and�…

Asthma is a complex chronic inflammatory disease of the airways that involves the activation
of many inflammatory and structural cells, all of which release inflammatory mediators that�…

Nuclear factor (NF)-κB is a family of seven structurally related transcription factors that play a
central role in cardiovascular growth, stress response, and inflammation by controlling gene�…

Movement of neutrophils from the bloodstream to inflamed tissue depends on the activation
of both the neutrophil and the endothelial cell. Endothelial cells lining the postcapillary�…

Cytokines are usually extracellular signalling proteins, usually less than 80 kD in size, and
many are glycosylated. They are produced by many diVerent cell types that are involved in�…

Cells within the synovial tissue may recruit mononuclear phagocytes into the synovial fluid
and tissues of arthritic patients. We investigated the production of the chemotactic cytokine�…