Cytokine Mimetics with Various Modalities

Cytokines play a central role in regulating cell communication and signal transduction, since they influence processes such as immunity, hematopoiesis, inflammatory disease, cancer, neurological disorders, and tissue healing. Notably, certain cytokines have been used clinically as protein therapeutics for conditions such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and viral infections. Despite their therapeutic potential, cytokines often pose challenges, including side effects, stability constraints, and suboptimal pharmacokinetics. To address these limitations, there is growing interest in using diverse modalities to develop alternative cytokines with enhanced properties and therapeutic benefits. Of these modalities, effective high-throughput screening of macrocyclic peptides enabled by RNA-based catalysis has emerged as a promising candidate method for the development of alternative cytokines. Here, we focus on the development of cytokine alternatives using various approaches and explore prospects for their future use as therapeutic agents.