cytokine

[ sahy-tuh-kahyn ]

noun

a type of small protein, as interferon, secreted by certain cells, especially immune cells, that helps regulate the body’s immune response to inflammation and disease:Cytokines are like the body’s messenger system for mobilizing its response to pathogens. The largest group of cytokines that stimulate immune cell proliferation are the interleukins.

Origin of cytokine

First recorded in 1970–75; cyto- + -kine, from Greek kineîn “to move, set in motion”; cf. -kinin

Words Nearby cytokine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cytokine in a sentence

It turned out that one of the SSRIs that worked well, fluvoxamine, binds to a receptor in cells that regulates cellular stress response and the production of cytokines, proteins that tell the body something is wrong and cause inflammation.
How a cheap antidepressant emerged as a promising Covid-19 treatment | Kelsey Piper | August 26, 2021 | Vox
One leading theory of what happens when patients suffer through Covid-19 is that cells damaged by the disease release tons of cytokines, which then causes inflammation in the lungs that can make it hard to breathe and cause lasting tissue damage.
How a cheap antidepressant emerged as a promising Covid-19 treatment | Kelsey Piper | August 26, 2021 | Vox
Though this was something doctors had seen in other conditions, it quickly became apparent that the cytokine storms produced by covid-19 had unusual destructive power.
Could covid lead to a lifetime of autoimmune disease? | Adam Piore | April 23, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
Those findings suggest that both cytokines must be blocked to have an effect, Lamkanfi says.
How two immune system chemicals may trigger COVID-19’s deadly cytokine storms | Tina Hesman Saey | October 30, 2020 | Science News
Mice with other inflammatory conditions were also protected from dying when both cytokines were blocked, and to a lesser extent when only one was blocked.
How two immune system chemicals may trigger COVID-19’s deadly cytokine storms | Tina Hesman Saey | October 30, 2020 | Science News

British Dictionary definitions for cytokine

cytokine

/ (ˈsaɪtəʊˌkaɪn) /

noun

any of various proteins, secreted by cells, that carry signals to neighbouring cells. Cytokines include interferon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for cytokine

cytokine

[ sī′tə-kīn′ ]

Any of several regulatory proteins, such as the interleukins and lymphokines, that are released by cells of the immune system and act as intercellular mediators in the generation of an immune response. Also called chemokine

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