ABSTRACT
The interleukin-1 (IL-1) family of cytokines exhibit both normal and pathological effects in almost every tissue and organ system and, as such, have been associated with cells engaged in the immune response, inflammatory cells, and cells engaged in development, differentiation, and repair processes. All effects of the IL-1 family are exerted via their receptors, which are present on a variety of different cell types. The design of novel compounds to inhibit or manipulate the IL-1 system remains a daunting task. At this time, the design of immunomodulators for the IL-1 system is still in its infancy and has largely been confined to the use of whole or fragmented proteins or the identification of nonspecific small molecules. Structure-based design has not been explicitly used in the design of agonists and antagonists of IL-1. In an effort to understand the natural and interactions of the IL-1 family, various laboratories have undertaken the task of elucidating the three-dimensional structure of the molecules.
