Cytokines and invertebrate immune responses

A profound interrelationship between cytokines and invertebrate (molluscs) immune responses has been reported. Different cytokines (IL-1 alpha, IL-2 and TNF-alpha) significantly stimulate molluscan hemocyte motility, increasing phagocytic activity and provoking the induction of nitric oxide synthase. As far as cell motility is concerned, the response to different cytokines varied between species. These and other recently reported findings (Ottaviani et al (1994) FEBS Lett 351, 19-21; Ottaviani et al (1995) Biochem Biophys Res Commun 207, 288-292) suggest that cytokines are important, ancestral, and functionally conserved molecules, which have also maintained their pleiotropicity, redundancy in the mode of action, and high promiscuity of their receptors during evolution.