Viral and cellular interleukin-10 (IL-10)-related cytokines: from structures to functions

The anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities of IL-10 have been extensively studied during the last 10 years. More recently a series of new cytokines, structurally related to IL-10, were described. This family includes mda-7, IL-19, IL-20, IL-TIF/IL-22, and AK155. Most of the biological functions of these cytokines remain to be unraveled but new data are coming out steadily. Although none of these "IL-10 homologs" mimics IL-10 activities, they are likely to be involved in inflammatory processes as well. mda-7, IL-19 and IL-20 form a subfamily within IL-10 homologs, based on conserved amino acid sequences, and on the use of shared receptor complexes. Functional studies have stressed the potential suppressing activity of mda-7 on tumor growth. As for IL-20, its overexpression in transgenic mice led to skin abnormalities, reminiscent of psoriatic lesions in humans. IL-TIF/IL-22 is a Th1 cytokine, and was shown to upregulate the acute phase reactant production by liver cells. Finally, for AK155, originally described as a gene induced upon T cell transformation by Herpes-virus saimiri, functional data are still lacking to determine its biological activities.