PubReading [306] - A Brief History of IL-9 - R. Goswami and M. Kaplan

<p><strong>IL-9</strong> was first described in the late 1980s as a member of a growing number of cytokines that had pleiotropic functions in the immune system. Although many biological functions have been attributed to IL-9, it remains an understudied <strong>cytokine</strong>. A resurgence of interest in IL-9 has been spurred by recent work demonstrating a role for IL-9 in regulating <strong>inflammatory immunity</strong> and defining the transcription factors that activate the Il9 gene in cells that most efficiently produce IL-9. In this review, we summarize the characterization of IL-9 biological activities, highlight roles for the cytokine that are clearly defined, and outline questions regarding IL-9 functions that still require further exploration.</p><p><a href="http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/doi/10.4049/jimmunol.1003049"><em>www.jimmunol.org/cgi/doi/10.4049/jimmunol.1003049</em></a><em> - 2011</em></p>