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Cytokines are soluble extracellular proteins or glycoproteins that are crucial intercellular regulators and mobilizers of cells engaged in innate as well as adaptive inflammatory host defenses, cell growth, differentiation, cell death, angiogenesis, and development and repair processes aimed at the restoration of homeostasis. Cytokines are released by various cells in the body, usually in response to an activating stimulus, and they induce responses through binding to specific receptors on the cell surface of target cells. Cytokines can be grouped by structure into different families and their receptors can likewise be grouped.
