Several human pathogens bind and respond to host cytokines, which can be
considered a virulence mechanism that communicates defensive actions of
the host to the pathogen. This review summarizes the current knowledge
of bacterial cytokine-binding proteins, with a particular focus on their
functional and structural characteristics. Many bacterial
cytokine-binding proteins function in the development of infection and
inflammation and mediate adhesion to host cells, suggesting multiple
roles in pathogen-host interactions. The regions of the bacterial
proteins that interact with host cytokines can display structural
similarities to other proteins involved in cytokine signaling. However,
there appears to be no central shared structural themes for bacterial
cytokine-binding proteins, and they appear to possess structures that
are different from the cytokine receptors of the host. Atomic-level
information regarding receptor-cytokine interactions is needed to be
able to disrupt these interactions and to elucidate the specific
consequences of cytokine binding in a pathogen and host.