Emerging Functions of IL-33 in Homeostasis and Immunity

Abstract

Our understanding of the functions of the IL-1 superfamily cytokine and damage-associated molecular pattern IL-33 continues to evolve with our understanding of homeostasis and immunity. The early findings that IL-33 is a potent driver of type 2 immune responses promoting parasite expulsion, but also inflammatory diseases like allergy and asthma, have been further supported. Yet, as the importance of a type 2 response in tissue repair and homeostasis has emerged, so has the fundamental importance of IL-33 to these processes. In this review, we outline an evolving understanding of IL-33 immunobiology, paying particular attention to how IL-33 directs a network of ST2⁺ regulatory T cells, reparative and regulatory macrophages, and type 2 innate lymphoid cells that are fundamental to tissue development, homeostasis, and repair.

Keywords: IL-33; cytokines; damage-associated molecular patterns; homeostasis; tissue repair; type 2 immunity.