Description
Interleukin-17 (also known as CTLA-8) is a T cell expressed pleiotropic cytokine that exhibits a high degree of homology to a protein encoded by the ORF13 gene of herpesvirus Saimiri. Both recombinant and natural IL-17 have been shown to exist as disulfide linked homodimers. An IL-17 specific mouse cell surface receptor (IL-17R) has been cloned. While the expression of IL-17 mRNA is restricted to activated alphabetaTCR+CD4-CD8-T cells, the expression of mIL-17R mRNA has been detected in virtually all cells and tissues tested. IL-17 exhibits multiple biological activities on a variety of cells including: the induction of IL-6 and IL-8 production in fibroblasts; the enhancement of surface expression of ICAM-1 in fibroblasts; activation of NF-kappaB and costimulation of T cell proliferation