15.8.4 Cytokines.

… some viruses subvert the immune response byproducing homologs of mammalian cytokines ortheir receptors. J. J. Oppenheim and M. Feldmann(p7)Cytokines are proteins or glycoproteins produced after stimulation (such as activation of immune cells) that act at short distances in very low concentrations to produce various effects, such as immune and inflammatory reactions, repair processes, and cell growth and differentiation., Each cytokine has multiple effects and overlaps with other cytokines, including structurally dissimilar ones, in those effects. The multiple effects (pleiotropy) are explained by the presence of cytokine receptors on a wide variety of cells, and the overlap (redundancy) by structural similarities ...Less