Interleukin-6 and related cytokines: effect on the acute phase reaction.

The acute phase response is the answer of the organism to disturbances of its physiological homeostasis. It consists of a local and a systemic reaction. The latter is characterized by dramatic changes in the concentration of some plasma proteins called acute phase proteins. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been identified in vitro and in vivo as the major hepatocyte stimulating factor. Subsequently, additional hepatocyte stimulating factors, such as leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin-M, interleukin-11 and ciliary neurotrophic factor have been discovered. IL-t and related cytokines belong to the so-called alpha-helical cytokine family characterized by four antiparallel helices. IL-6 and IL-6-type cytokines exert their action via plasma membrane receptor complexes consisting of specific cytokine binding subunits and a common signal transducing protein gp130. In this presentation we focus on structure/function studies of IL-6, its receptor subunits gp80 and gp130, the internalization of the ligand/receptor complex and a recently elucidated signal transduction pathway. We have shown that protein tyrosine kinases of the JAK family are associated with the cytoplasmic domain of gp130 and are activated in response to IL-6. Subsequently, the transcription factors--named STATs (signal transducers and activators of transcription)--STAT1 alpha and STAT3 are transiently recruited to the cytoplasmic domain of gp130, where they become tyrosine phosphorylated by JAK kinases. In addition to the tyrosine phosphorylation we have observed that IL-6 also induces a serine phosphorylation of STAT3. This modification occurs with a delayed time-course as compared to the tyrosine phosphorylation and is inhibited by the protein kinase inhibitor H7. We propose that the STAT3 serine phosphorylation is required for transactivation of IL-6 target genes which is also inhibited by H7.