ABSTRACT
Cytokine biology has made significant advances over the past two decades. The achievements have come about through a combination of new technologies and rigorous experimentation, culminating in the development and subsequent marketing of a new generation of therapeutics. Understanding the molecular basis of cytokine networks in the context of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases is perhaps best illustrated by the recent successes
of targeting proinflammatory cytokines in the prototypic chronic inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis. On the one hand, the clinical response to this therapeutic approach has challenged current concepts of cytokine function, hierarchies and redundancy, while on the other hand it has provided unique opportunities for investigators to explore cytokine networks and their role in health and disease directly in humans.
