| Cytokines are intercellular regulatory proteins that mediate a multiplicity of immunologic as well as non-Immunologic biological functions. These proteins are induced by specific stimuli to modify and enhance the function of effector cells, mediate the interactions among them and control their growth and differentiation in immune response. From 1980s, modern technological advancements have cloned many cytokines' cDNAs and discovered lots of new ones. At the present time, monoclonal antibodies and genetic engineering technology have provided recombinant cytokines as well as potent neutralizing antibodies against each cytokine. Therefore a vast amount of scientific research work have been done on sources of production, molecular structure, corresponding receptor and antagonist, biological activities and relationship to clinical application of each cytokine. Nowadays study of cytokines is one of the most active realm in both basic and clinical immunology. Successfully obtaining cDNA clone and gene expression is the essential prerequisite for cytokine research and is of top importance for clinical application, too. Many cytokines, e.g, IL-2, EPO, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ , IFN-α , have been put on the market and even more ones have been on different stages of clinical trials.Since 1989, when the first report appeared in the literature, IL-12, as a novel cytokine, has been attracted a great deal of attention in the world. The...
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