The role of IL-18 in innate immunity

IL-18 — a novel cytokine with potent IFN-γ-inducing activities — plays an important role in the Th1-mediated immune response in collaboration with IL-12. IL-18 is a member of the IL-1 family. The IL-18 receptor system and its signal transduction pathway are analogous to those of the IL-1 receptor. Mice deficient in IL-18 have demonstrated its critical role in natural killer cell activity and in vivo Th1 response.