Description
IL-17(Interleukin-17), originally identified as a transcript from a rodent T-cell hybridoma by Rouvier et al. in 1993, is the founding member of a group of cytokines called the IL-17 family. Known as CTLA8 in rodents, IL-17 shows high homology to viral IL-17 encoded by an open reading frame of the T-lymphotropic rhadinovirus Herpesvirus saimiri. Mouse IL-17 shares 85% amino acid sequence homology with rat. Interleukin 17 is a cytokine that acts as a potent mediator in delayed-type reactions by increasing chemokine production in various tissues to recruit monocytes and neutrophils to the site of inflammation, similar to Interferon gamma. IL-17 is produced by T-helper cells and is induced by IL–23 which results in destructive tissue damage in delayed-type reactions. Interleukin 17 as a family functions as a proinflammatory cytokine that responds to the invasion of the immune system by extracellular pathogens and induces destruction of the pathogen's cellular matrix. Interleukin 17 acts synergistically with tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1. To elicit its functions, IL-17 binds to a type I cell surface receptor called IL-17R of which there are at least three variants IL17RA, IL17RB, and IL17RC