IL-22's gut feeling

Although interleukin-22 has been implicated in several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, figuring out how to use it as a target or a therapeutic has been challenging because of its contradictory roles in different tissues-sometimes even in the same tissue. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation a new role for interleukin-22 in promoting mucus secretion from the colon and have developed a localized delivery method that may allow the cytokine to be used to treat ulcerative colitis without upsetting its function in other tissues.¹

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is produced by Th17 cells, a subpopulation of CD4⁺ T helper cells named for one of their activities: the production of IL-17.IL-22 activates the transcription factors signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which in turn activate genes involved in immune and inflammatory responses. IL-22 receptors are found on a number of peripheral tissues including liver, gut, lung, spleen and skin^1-3 (see "Physiological effect of IL-22 on skin, colon and liver tissues")...