Cytokine-binding proteins: stimulating antagonists.
Cytokine-binding proteins (CBPs) block the ability of cytokines to interact with their receptors. These agents can potentially provide a means of treating pathological conditions that have a significant cytokine involvement. However, a major drawback of such approaches relates to the fact that CBPs stabilize the cytokine in the form of a cytokine-CBP complex in vivo. Here, Bernard Klein and Hervé Brailly discuss the possibility that CBPs behave either as agonists or antagonists according to their pharmacokinetic characteristics in vivo, and suggest a mechanism by which stable complexes might be cleared from the system.
Klein
B
B
Institute for Molecular Genetics, CNRS, Montpellier, France.
Brailly
H
H
D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000188:drug therapy; D011485:Protein Binding; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine / Q000819:agonists / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism
D016207:Cytokines; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine