[Molecular aspects of IL-7-IL-7 receptor system]

IL-7 is a multifunctional cytokine which acts on cells such as B cells, T cells and macrophages. As the IL-7 clearly plays many important roles the in control of growth and differentiation, it is important to understand how IL-7 and IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) are expressed. Recently, to understand the transcriptional regulation of IL-7 and IL-7R genes, a detailed analysis of the 5' flanking region of the IL-7 and IL-7R genes has been done. In this review recent progress on these topics is introduced and discussed.