More Information
Related Jobs from ScienceCareers
|
|
Science 18 December 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5397, p. 2149
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5397.2149k
|
|
This Week in Science
Allergic asthma is becoming more prevalent--it is estimated that 15 million people in the United States alone have the condition. Animal models have provided insights into the immunologic elements that set up the condition, such as a type 2 T helper cell response and the production of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-5. However, it is not clear what causes the acute reaction--airway hyperresponsiveness and severe mucus secretion, the symptoms that can lead to asphyxiation. Grünig et al. (p. 2261) and Wills-Karp et al. (p. 2258) have found that, in the mouse model of asthma, cytokine IL-13, working through activation of the a subunit of the IL-4 receptor, induces those symptoms; blocking IL-13 also blocked the symptoms. This work suggests that reagents that inhibit IL-13 action have potential therapeutic benefits (see the news story by Vogel).
|
|
Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
