What does cytokine mean?
Definitions for cytokine
cy·tokine
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word cytokine.
Princeton's WordNet
cytokinenoun
any of various protein molecules secreted by cells of the immune system that serve to regulate the immune system
Wiktionary
cytokinenoun
Any of various small regulatory proteins that regulate the cells of the immune system.
Wikipedia
Cytokine
Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in autocrine, paracrine and endocrine signaling as immunomodulating agents. Cytokines include chemokines, interferons, interleukins, lymphokines, and tumour necrosis factors, but generally not hormones or growth factors (despite some overlap in the terminology). Cytokines are produced by a broad range of cells, including immune cells like macrophages, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes and mast cells, as well as endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and various stromal cells; a given cytokine may be produced by more than one type of cell. They act through cell surface receptors and are especially important in the immune system; cytokines modulate the balance between humoral and cell-based immune responses, and they regulate the maturation, growth, and responsiveness of particular cell populations. Some cytokines enhance or inhibit the action of other cytokines in complex ways. They are different from hormones, which are also important cell signaling molecules. Hormones circulate in higher concentrations, and tend to be made by specific kinds of cells. Cytokines are important in health and disease, specifically in host immune responses to infection, inflammation, trauma, sepsis, cancer, and reproduction. The word comes from the ancient Greek language: cyto, from Greek κύτος, kytos, 'cavity, cell' + kines, from Greek κίνησις, kinēsis, 'movement'.
ChatGPT
cytokine
Cytokines are a group of proteins, peptides, or glycoproteins produced by specific cells of the immune system. They act as signaling molecules that regulate a range of biological functions including immunity, inflammation, and the production of blood cells. Based on their functions, they are characterized into different categories including interleukins, lymphokines, chemokines, and interferons. Cytokines help in cell to cell communication in immune responses and stimulate the movement of cells towards sites of inflammation or infection.
Wikidata
Cytokine
Cytokines are small signaling molecules used for cell signaling. Cytokines can be classified as proteins, peptides, or glycoproteins; the term "cytokine" encompasses a large and diverse family of regulators produced throughout the body by cells of diverse embryological origin. The term "cytokine" has been used to refer to the immunomodulating agents, such as interleukins and interferons. Biochemists disagree as to which molecules should be termed cytokines and which hormones. As we learn more about each, anatomic and structural distinctions between the two are fading. Classic protein hormones circulate in nanomolar concentrations that usually vary by less than one order of magnitude. In contrast, some cytokines circulate in picomolar concentrations that can increase up to 1,000-fold during trauma or infection. The widespread distribution of cellular sources for cytokines may be a feature that differentiates them from hormones. Virtually all nucleated cells, but especially endo/epithelial cells and resident macrophages are potent producers of IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α. In contrast, classic hormones, such as insulin, are secreted from discrete glands. As of 2008, the current terminology refers to cytokines as immunomodulating agents. However, more research is needed in this area of defining cytokines and hormones.
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of cytokine in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of cytokine in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of cytokine in a Sentence
There are people who have a measured response to the virus and their immune system can manage it without overreacting, healthy people who are asymptomatic are the ones who had just enough immune response to destroy the virus without creating a cytokine storm or blood clots.
We've certainly seen people come into our hospital, very young people( in their early 20s)... need to be put on ECMO, which is basically a heart-lung machine, for days or even weeks because they come in with cardiomyopathy, which is a response to a cytokine storm.
One of the things people are seeing with Covid now is the cytokine storm that is generated by the virus.
And that was really the story of the pandemic in 1918 -- the flu pandemic. We had a U-shaped curve. It was the young and the old dying for different reasons, but the reason the young died was because they had a vigorous immune response -- the so-called cytokine storm, where your body makes immunological proteins that actually cause harm.
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"cytokine." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/cytokine>.
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