Abstract
Cytokines are soluble proteins secreted by immune cells that act as molecular messengers relaying instructions and mediating various functions performed by the cellular counterparts of the immune system, by means of a synchronized cascade of signaling pathways. Aberrant expression of cytokines can be indicative of anomalous behavior of the immunoregulatory system, as seen in various illnesses and conditions, such as cancer, autoimmunity, neurodegeneration and other physiological disorders. Cancer and autoimmune diseases are particularly adept at developing mechanisms to escape and modulate the immune system checkpoints, reflected by an altered cytokine profile. Cytokine profiling can provide valuable information for diagnosing such diseases and monitoring their progression, as well as assessing the efficacy of immunotherapeutic regiments. Toward this goal, there has been immense interest in the development of ultrasensitive quantitative detection techniques for cytokines, which involves technologies from various scientific disciplines, such as immunology, electrochemistry, photometry, nanotechnology and electronics. This review focusses on one aspect of this collective effort: electrochemical biosensors. Among the various types of biosensors available, electrochemical biosensors are one of the most reliable, user-friendly, easy to manufacture, cost-effective and versatile technologies that can yield results within a short period of time, making it extremely promising for routine clinical testing.
Highlights
Introduction to CytokinesCytokines are a class of soluble signaling proteins, ranging in size from 8 to 40 kDa, which act as mediators of innate and adaptive immunity
Several detection techniques are applied to electrochemical biosensors that differ in the mode of application of potential and signal generation, which can be broadly classified as potential step or potential sweep methods
Cytokines are an important class of molecules that hold tremendous potential for the prognosis and diagnosis of a broad range of conditions and illnesses, including cancer, autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative diseases
Summary
Cytokines are a class of soluble signaling proteins, ranging in size from 8 to 40 kDa, which act as mediators of innate and adaptive immunity. The immune system is triggered by self-antigens, which results in a systematic reaction that attacks healthy tissue It is often mediated by autoreactive T cells which escape common checkpoint mechanisms (e.g., thymic deletion, development into natural Treg or peripheral anergy), leading to an imbalance between immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive cytokines. Important Cytokines as Potential Biomarkers (i) Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a 21–26 kDa glycoprotein, 212 amino acid residues long, with a pleiotropic effect, secreted in higher levels in response to an inflammatory stimulus [25,26] It can mediate both pro- and anti-inflammatory responses by binding to its specific receptor IL-6R on target cells [27]. TGF-β1 is thought to alleviate inflammation in chronic neurodegeneration [53]
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