Madindolines, Novel Inhibitors of IL-6 Activity from Streptomyces sp. K93-0711. II. Physico-chemical Properties and Structural Elucidation.

Abstract

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine that acts on immune response, hematopoiesis, acute phase reactions and the nervous system1*. Thus, IL-6 plays one of the central regulatory roles in host defense mechanisms. However, it has been demonstrated that IL-6 produced by tumor cells causes cancer cachexia, and also stimulates the proliferation of tumor cells in an autocrine/paracrine manner2~5). Therefore, it may be possible that the inhibition ofIL-6 activity relieves cancer cachexia and suppress the growth of IL-6 dependent tumor cells.