Just over two years ago the newest member of the interleukin family of cytokines, IL-18, was
molecularly cloned. IL-18 was originally identified as a result of its ability to induce interferon
gamma production, however with the advent of its cloning and the production of recombinant
protein a number of other biological actions have since been identified. Recently the
receptor for IL-18 was also characterised. Due to the structural and biological properties
shared between IL-18 and IL-1 and their respective receptors, questions relating to IL-18 …