Chandelier
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
IL-6 family cytokines behind acute COVID-19 and Long COVID syndrome: Mechanisms, biomarkers, and intervention strategies
Bustos, Matilde; Rodríguez-Hernández, María Ángeles
Beyond the well-established pro-inflammatory actions of IL-6 itself, members of this family collectively orchestrate a complex network integrating antiviral defence, tissue repair, and maladaptive inflammation.
Evidence accumulated over the past five years suggests altered regulation and signalling of those cytokines may help explain the heterogeneity of clinical outcomes, ranging from acute respiratory failure to persistent post-COVID symptoms.
Recent advances -including the development of multispecific fusion proteins capable of simultaneously blocking viral entry and selectively modulating IL-6–related inflammatory pathways- highlight the expanding therapeutic potential of targeting this cytokine axis.
Effective intervention requires precise knowledge of the cytokines temporal expression patterns to avoid interfering with beneficial immune responses.
This review examines the molecular mechanisms involving IL-6 family cytokines, their promise as biomarkers of disease progression, and the current or emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating their signalling pathways.
Web | DOI | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research
Bustos, Matilde; Rodríguez-Hernández, María Ángeles
Highlights
- IL-6 family cytokines differentially contribute to COVID-19 and Long COVID.
- Biomarker strength differs among IL-6 family cytokines.
- Selective gp130 signalling modulation offers precision therapeutic opportunities.
- Precision cytokine profiling may guide personalized COVID-19 management.
Abstract
IL-6 family of cytokines is increasingly recognized as a potential contributor to the immune alterations observed in COVID-19 and its long-term sequelae.Beyond the well-established pro-inflammatory actions of IL-6 itself, members of this family collectively orchestrate a complex network integrating antiviral defence, tissue repair, and maladaptive inflammation.
Evidence accumulated over the past five years suggests altered regulation and signalling of those cytokines may help explain the heterogeneity of clinical outcomes, ranging from acute respiratory failure to persistent post-COVID symptoms.
Recent advances -including the development of multispecific fusion proteins capable of simultaneously blocking viral entry and selectively modulating IL-6–related inflammatory pathways- highlight the expanding therapeutic potential of targeting this cytokine axis.
Effective intervention requires precise knowledge of the cytokines temporal expression patterns to avoid interfering with beneficial immune responses.
This review examines the molecular mechanisms involving IL-6 family cytokines, their promise as biomarkers of disease progression, and the current or emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating their signalling pathways.
Web | DOI | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research