Interleukin 22 (IL22)

IL-22, a class of potent mediators of cellular inflammatory responses. It shares us of IL-10R2 in cell signaling with other members of this family, IL-10, IL-26, IL-28, IL-29. IL-22 is produced by activated DC and T cells and initiates innate immune responses against bacterial pathogens especially in epithelial cells such as respiratory and gut epithelial cells.

IL-22 along with IL-17 is rapidly produced by splenic LTi-like cells  and can be also produced by Th17 cells and likely plays a role in the coordinated response of both adaptive and innate immune systems.IL-22 biological activity is initiated by binding to a cell-surface complex composed of IL-22R1 and IL-10R2 receptor chains and further regulated by interactions with a soluble binding protein, IL-22BP, which shares sequence similarity with an extracellular region of IL-22R1.