Interleukin-17 Family

As crucial inflammatory mediators, cytokines in the IL-17 family play important roles in inflammation, autoimmunity and host defense. In the past decades, substantial progresses have been made in the identification of IL-17-producing cell subsets as well as the new functions of IL-17 in diseases. Here we summarize on members of the IL-17 and IL-17 receptor families, focus on the recent advances in the identification of innate IL-17-producing cells, and dissect the mechanisms by which IL-17 signaling is regulated. At the end, we discuss how IL-17 and IL-17R normally function in host defense against microbial infections or abnormally in chronic inflammatory diseases and other pathologies.