Cytokine technology in basic and applied research on the hematopoietic system.

Cytokines are polypeptide molecules important for the regulation and maintenance of immunity and hematopoiesis. Their central role in the control of a number of physiological mechanisms makes them an important area of both basic and applied biomedical research. This review presents an overview of basic and applied biology, and introduces the term cytokine technology to denote the use of cytokines as research tools for understanding the cellular and molecular regulation of hematopoiesis. A number of frontier technologies are reviewed, including fusion toxins, fusion proteins, and animal models of cytokine expression and regulation.