Contrasting effects of interleukin-4 on colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-6 synthesis by vascular endothelial cells

Abstract

Endothelial cells (EC) may regulate both local and systemic aspects of inflammation through the synthesis of cytokines such as granulocyte- macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). EC are known to synthesize these cytokines in response to interleukin-1 (IL-1α), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In this paper, we illustrate the effect of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in reducing the synthesis of GM-CSF by EC stimulated with IL-1α, TNF-α, or LPS. This is compared with the previously reported strong synergy between IL-4 and IL-1α, TNF-α, or LPS in the s..