title: Interleukin-6 in aging and chronic disease: a magnificent pathway.
abstract: The human interleukin IL-6 was originally cloned in 1986. In 1993, William Ershler, in his article "IL-6: A Cytokine for Gerontologists," indicated IL-6 as one of the main signaling pathways modulating the complex relationship between aging and chronic morbidity. Over the last 12 years, our understanding of the role of IL-6 in human physiology and pathology has substantially grown, although some of the questions originally posed by Ershler are still debated. In this review, we will focus on IL-6 structure, IL-6 signaling, and trans signaling pathways, and the role of IL-6 in geriatric syndromes and chronic disease. In the final section of this review, we dissect the critical elements of the IL-6 signaling pathway and point out targets for intervention that are targeted by emerging drugs, some still on the horizon and others already being tested in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Branch, Longitudinal Studies Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21225, USA.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maggio
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Guralnik
authors.forename: Dan L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6