Synopsis
on Transfer Factor
By
Dr. Mac Barksdale
Here
are some more details about TF+.
Perhaps
more than you want to know.
Immunology is not a simple subject.
It is very, very complex.
It is one of those things that the more I know about it, the more I know I
do not know.
Cytokines
The
immune system has many different types of cells acting together
to take care of unwanted infections and altered cells. Cytokines
are the chemicals produced by these cells in order to communicate
and orchestrate the attack. Just as hormones in the endocrine
system can produce an effect on other cells, so cytokines can
act on other immune cells, especially cells that are close
by. Cytokines act as biochemical "messenger molecules". The "message" or "instruction" is
sent by Signal Transduction to every cell of the immune system
and others. Signal Transduction acts with a "Lock and Key" specificity.
Glycoproteins are the cell wall receptors, made up of eight
essential monosaccharides and comprising about 40% of the mass
of the cell wall.
Cytokines
have several important characteristics:
The
same cytokine may be made by a number of different cells.
The
same cytokine may have different effects in different circumstances.
(This is called 'pleotropy')
Different
cytokines may have the same activity depending on the situation
('redundancy').
Cytokines
often act together and increase the effects of one another
('synergy'). They may also act as antagonists. [as IL-6 acting
as a proinflammatory agent and IL-10 acting as an antiinflammatory
agent]
Most
cytokines have either paracrine or autocrine effects. Paracrine
means they act on cells near to them or that they are actually
touching. The autocrine function of IL-2 is well known because,
when a T cell is stimulated to make IL-2, it stimulates itself
via the IL-2 receptor to proliferate. An example of an uncommon
endocrine function for cytokines is IL-1 which can cause fever
by stimulating the hypothalamus.
Originally,
the cytokines were named according to their function (like
T cell growth factor, now called IL-2) but then the pleotropy
of cytokines was observed, making function specific names confusing.
After more and more cytokines were identified, and in order
to avoid confusion, immunologists started naming some of the
cytokines 'interleukins' (or IL for short) and numbering them
as they were found. The first interleukin identified therefore
was IL-1 and the most recent one is IL-16.
You
will find that some cytokines are more important than others
in basic immunology. Take a look at the following table. The
functions of cytokines are best studied within the context
of an actual immune response.
Table
of cytokines
Cytokine
Principle Source Principle Activities
IL-1
Macrophage T,B, cell activation;
IL-2 T cells T cell proliferation
IL-3 T cells Growth of many cell types
IL-4 T cells B cell growth/differentiation
IL-5 T cells B cell, eosinophil growth
IL-6 Macrophages B cell stimulation, inflammation
IL-7 stromal cells Early B/T cell differentiation
IL-8 Macrophages Neutrophil (PMN)attraction
IL-9 T cells mitogen
IL-10 T cells Inhibits Th1 cytokine production
IL-11 Bone marrow stroma Hematopoeisis
IL-12 APC Stimulates T, NK cells
IL-13 T cells Similar to IL-4 [B cell growth and differentiation]
IL-14 Dendritic cells,T cells B cell memory
IL-15 T cells same as IL-2 [T cell proliferation]
IFNa Most cells Anti-viral
IFNb Most cells Anti-viral
IFNg T, NK cells inflammation, activates macrophages TGFb macrophages,lymphocytes
Depends on target TNFa Macrophage Inflammation; tumor killing
TNFb T cells Inflammation; tumor killing; enhances phagocytosis
Mac
Barksdale DVM
References
More
facts about Patented Transfer Factor
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