IL-6/IL-6 Receptor Antibodies

Target Information

IL-6 is a gene that encodes a cytokine that plays a role in inflammation and the maturation of B cells. The protein produced by this gene is an endogenous pyrogen that can induce fever in people with autoimmune diseases or infections. The gene is primarily expressed at sites of acute and chronic inflammation, where it is secreted into the serum and induces a transcriptional inflammatory response through interleukin 6 receptor, alpha. The functioning of this gene is implicated in a wide variety of inflammation-associated disease states, including susceptibility to diabetes mellitus and systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Elevated levels of the encoded protein have been found in virus infections, including COVID-19 (disease caused by SARS-CoV-2). Diseases associated with IL6 include Kaposi Sarcoma and Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Juvenile.

Interleukin 6 receptor (IL6R), also known as CD126 (Cluster of Differentiation 126), is a type I cytokine receptor. This gene encodes a subunit of the interleukin 6 (IL6) receptor complex. Interleukin 6 is a potent pleiotropic cytokine that regulates cell growth and differentiation and plays an important role in the immune response. The IL6 receptor is a protein complex consisting of this protein and interleukin 6 signal transducer (IL6ST/GP130/IL6-beta), a receptor subunit also shared by many other cytokines. Dysregulated production of IL6 and this receptor are implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such as multiple myeloma, autoimmune diseases and prostate cancer. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been reported. A pseudogene of this gene is found on chromosome 9.