Cytokine signaling in the differentiation of innate effector cells

Abstract

Innate effector cells, including innate effector cells of myeloid and lymphoid lineages, are crucial components of various types of immune responses. Bone marrow progenitors differentiate into many subsets of innate effector cells after receiving instructional signals often provided by cytokines. Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STATs) have been shown to be essential in the differentiation of various types of innate effector cells. In this review, we focus specifically on the differentiation of innate effector cells, particularly the role of cytokine signaling in the differentiation of innate effector cells.

Keywords: :

• STATs
• innate effector cells
• differentiation
• cytokine
• transcription factor

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (RO1AI083986) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act administrative supplement (R01AI068083-04S1). We also thank Michael Hubbard for assistance in manuscript preparation.