Interleukin 6

IL6
Available structures PDB Ortholog search: PDBe RCSB List of PDB id codes 4O9H, 1ALU, 1IL6, 1P9M, 2IL6, 4CNI, 4J4L, 4NI7, 4NI9, 4ZS7
Identifiers
Aliases	IL6, BSF2, HGF, HSF, IFNB2, IL-6, BSF-2, CDF, IFN-beta-2, interleukin 6
External IDs	OMIM: 147620; MGI: 96559; HomoloGene: 502; GeneCards: IL6; OMA:IL6 - orthologs
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 7 (human)[1] Band 7p15.3 Start 22,725,884 bp[1] End 22,732,002 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 5 (mouse)[2] Band 5 B1|5 15.7 cM Start 30,218,112 bp[2] End 30,224,979 bp[2]
RNA expression pattern Bgee Human Mouse (ortholog) Top expressed in cartilage tissue vena cava gallbladder left uterine tube gonad smooth muscle tissue mucosa of urinary bladder upper lobe of left lung islet of Langerhans testicle Top expressed in embryo stroma of bone marrow blastocyst endothelial cell of lymphatic vessel spermatocyte spermatid granulocyte lumbar spinal ganglion islet of Langerhans atrioventricular valve More reference expression data BioGPS More reference expression data
Gene ontology Molecular function cytokine activity growth factor activity interleukin-6 receptor binding protein binding Cellular component extracellular region interleukin-6 receptor complex extracellular space endoplasmic reticulum lumen Biological process regulation of angiogenesis positive regulation of translation platelet activation humoral immune response defense response to virus response to peptidoglycan neuron projection development defense response to Gram-positive bacterium negative regulation of fat cell differentiation positive regulation of peptidyl-serine phosphorylation positive regulation of leukocyte chemotaxis positive regulation of T cell proliferation positive regulation of interleukin-6 production positive regulation of peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation positive regulation of acute inflammatory response inflammatory response negative regulation of collagen biosynthetic process positive regulation of MAPK cascade hepatic immune response monocyte chemotaxis positive regulation of DNA-binding transcription factor activity negative regulation of apoptotic process positive regulation of osteoblast differentiation positive regulation of NF-kappaB transcription factor activity acute-phase response immune response regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor production positive regulation of chemokine production negative regulation of lipid storage neutrophil mediated immunity positive regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation positive regulation of type B pancreatic cell apoptotic process response to glucocorticoid defense response to Gram-negative bacterium positive regulation of cell population proliferation positive regulation of apoptotic process positive regulation of B cell activation post-translational protein modification regulation of signaling receptor activity positive regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT protein neutrophil apoptotic process negative regulation of cell population proliferation positive regulation of gene expression endocrine pancreas development negative regulation of bone resorption positive regulation of transcription, DNA-templated positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II glucagon secretion cellular response to hydrogen peroxide cellular response to lipopolysaccharide T-helper 17 cell lineage commitment positive regulation of T-helper 2 cell cytokine production negative regulation of interleukin-1-mediated signaling pathway cytokine-mediated signaling pathway interleukin-6-mediated signaling pathway positive regulation of receptor signaling pathway via JAK-STAT signal transduction Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs Species Human Mouse Entrez 3569 16193 Ensembl ENSG00000136244 ENSMUSG00000025746 UniProt P05231 P08505 RefSeq (mRNA) NM_000600 NM_001318095 NM_001371096 NM_031168 NM_001314054 RefSeq (protein) NP_000591 NP_001305024 NP_001358025 NP_001300983 NP_112445 Location (UCSC) Chr 7: 22.73 – 22.73 Mb Chr 5: 30.22 – 30.22 Mb PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an interleukin that acts as both a pro-inflammatory cytokine and an anti-inflammatory myokine. In humans, it is encoded by the IL6 gene.^[5]

In addition, osteoblasts secrete IL-6 to stimulate osteoclast formation. Smooth muscle cells in the tunica media of many blood vessels also produce IL-6 as a pro-inflammatory cytokine. IL-6's role as an anti-inflammatory myokine is mediated through its inhibitory effects on TNF-alpha and IL-1 and its activation of IL-1ra and IL-10.

There is some early evidence that IL-6 can be used as an inflammatory marker for severe COVID-19 infection with poor prognosis, in the context of the wider coronavirus pandemic.^[6]