gene

IL6

Entity Detail — Knowledge Graph Node

Understanding Entity Pages

This page aggregates everything SciDEX knows about IL6: its mechanistic relationships (Knowledge Graph edges), hypotheses targeting it, analyses mentioning it, and supporting scientific papers. The interactive graph below shows its immediate neighbors. All content is AI-synthesized from peer-reviewed literature.

2138Connections

0Hypotheses

5Analyses

50Outgoing

50Incoming

0Experiments

9Debates

Summary

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that functions as both a pro-inflammatory mediator and an immunomodulatory molecule in the central nervous system. In neurodegeneration, IL-6 is produced by microglia, astrocytes, and neurons in response to pathological stimuli, and its dysregulation contributes to neuroinflammatory cascades implicated in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. The IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway interacts with multiple AD-relevant mechanisms, including the cGAS-STING innate immune pathway that drives type I interferon responses. IL-6 deficiency in mouse models reduces neuroinflammation and improves cognitive outcomes, demonstrating its disease-promoting role. Elevated IL-6 levels are observed in AD brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid, and genetic variants in IL-6 have been associated with AD risk. Therapeutic approaches targeting IL-6 or its receptor (IL-6R) are under investigation for neurodegenerative diseases, though systemic immunosuppression risks must be carefully managed. The dual role of IL-6 in both inflammatory responses and normal brain function makes targeting this cytokine particularly challenging.

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🧬 Gene Info

Gene Symbol	IL6
Full Name	Interleukin 6
Function	is an important component in the neurobiology of neurodegenerative diseases.
Pathways	Akt, Amyloid, Apoptosis, Autophagy, Epigenetic
Ensembl ID	ENSG00000136244
GeneCards	IL6
Human Protein Atlas	IL6
IL-6R (CD126)	Membrane-bound receptor
gp130 (CD130)	Signal-transducing subunit (shared with other IL-6 family cytokines)
JAK/STAT3	Primary signaling pathway
MAPK/ERK	Secondary signaling cascade
Soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R)	Generated by proteolytic cleavage or alternative splicing
Trans-signaling	Enables IL-6 response in cells lacking membrane IL-6R
Pro-inflammatory	Trans-signaling is primarily pro-inflammatory
Macrophages/Monocytes	Primary source, TLR-stimulated
Associated Diseases	AD, Aging, Als, Alzheimer, Alzheimer's disease
Known Drugs/Compounds	Andrographis paniculata, Anti-IL6 Antibody, DUPILUMAB, IRN, MELATONIN, quercetin
Interactions	A2M, ABCB1, ABCG2, ACACA, ACE, ACSL4
KG Connections	2136 knowledge graph edges
Databases	GeneCards UniProt NCBI Gene HPA STRING

Wiki Pages (4)

Knowledge base pages for this entity

Canonical Page

Pathway Diagram

flowchart TD
    IL6(["IL6"])
    INFLAMMATION("INFLAMMATION")
    Als["Als"]
    Inflammation["Inflammation"]
    Cancer["Cancer"]
    CANCER(["CANCER"])
    GENES(["GENES"])
    IL_6(["IL-6"])
    TNF(["TNF"])
    AKT1(["AKT1"])
    Tumor["Tumor"]
    Infection["Infection"]
    T_Cell_Differentiation("T Cell Differentiation")

    IL6 -->|"activates"| INFLAMMATION
    IL6 -->|"therapeutic target"| Als
    IL6 -.->|"inhibits"| Inflammation
    IL6 -->|"activates"| Cancer
    IL6 -->|"activates"| Inflammation
    IL6 -->|"activates"| CANCER
    IL6 -->|"therapeutic target"| GENES
    IL6 -->|"activates"| IL_6
    TNF -->|"activates"| IL6
    TNF -->|"therapeutic target"| IL6
    AKT1 -->|"therapeutic target"| IL6
    IL6 -->|"activates"| Als
    IL6 -->|"associated with"| Tumor
    IL6 -->|"activates"| Infection
    IL6 -->|"regulates"| T_Cell_Differentiation

    style IL6 fill:#006494,stroke:#4fc3f7,stroke-width:3px,color:#e0e0e0

Outgoing (1331)

Target	Relation	Type	Str
IL6	encodes	protein	0.00
Cancer	activates	disease	1.00
Inflammation	inhibits	disease	1.00
CANCER	activates	gene	1.00
Inflammation	activates	disease	1.00
INFLAMMATION	activates	phenotype	1.00
Als	therapeutic_target	disease	1.00
IL-6	activates	gene	1.00
GENES	therapeutic_target	gene	1.00
Frailty	biomarker_for	phenotype	0.95
Tumor	associated_with	disease	0.95
Als	activates	disease	0.95
T Cell Differentiation	regulates	process	0.95
Infection	activates	disease	0.95
Th17 Cell	activates	cell_type	0.95
Endotoxemia	associated_with	disease	0.90
STAT3	interacts_with	protein	0.90
Parkinson's Disease	promotes	disease	0.90
oxidative stress response	participates_in	pathway	0.90
Neuroinflammation	mediates	process	0.90
Neurodegeneration	associated_with	process	0.90
Apathy	mediates	phenotype	0.90
GP130-STAT3 pathway	activates	pathway	0.90
Mesolimbic Dopamine	downregulates	process	0.90
JAK1	activates	protein	0.90
ziltivekimab	targets	drug	0.90
normal pituitary cell proliferation	inhibits	phenotype	0.90
atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease	associated_with	disease	0.90
ST6GAL1	contributes_to	gene	0.90
pituitary tumor cell growth	activates	phenotype	0.90
JAK/STAT3 pathway	activates	pathway	0.90
STAT3	activates	protein	0.90
NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA SPECTRUM DISORDER	therapeutic_target	entity	0.90
JAK	activates	protein	0.87
Cancer	associated_with	disease	0.85
Neuroinflammation	activates	disease	0.85
Inhibitory Synapse Phenotypes	activates	phenotype	0.85
inflammatory response	mediates	process	0.85
chronic inflammation	drives	pathway	0.85
Carcinoma	associated_with	disease	0.85
Inflammation	therapeutic_target	disease	0.85
Neurodegeneration	activates	disease	0.85
Cancer	inhibits	disease	0.85
Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder	contributes_to	disease	0.85
neuroinflammation	associated_with	process	0.85
Parkinson'S Disease	associated_with	disease	0.85
Tumor	therapeutic_target	disease	0.85
Tumor	activates	disease	0.85
Vascular Dysfunction	promotes	phenotype	0.85
Insomnia	therapeutic_target	disease	0.85

Incoming (807)

Source	Relation	Type	Str
IL6	encodes	gene	0.00
TNF	activates	gene	1.00
TNF	therapeutic_target	gene	1.00
AKT1	targets	gene	1.00
IPA	downregulates	compound	0.95
Anti-IL6 Antibody	targets	drug	0.95
Lapiferin	downregulates	compound	0.92
Urolithin A	inhibits	drug	0.90
NFKB1	activates	gene	0.90
high glucose	upregulates	compound	0.90
Gallic Acid	downregulates	compound	0.90
h-6f1e8d32	targets	hypothesis	0.90
Hearing Loss	upregulates	phenotype	0.90
rutin	inhibits	drug	0.90
Itaconate	downregulates	compound	0.90
NF-kB	regulates	pathway	0.90
ASTROCYTES	activates	cell_type	0.90
microglia	upregulates	cell_type	0.90
Pulmonary Vascular Endothelial Cell Senescence	upregulates	process	0.90
NRF2	regulates	gene	0.90
Ric	downregulates	process	0.90
Betulinic Acid	downregulates	compound	0.90
Microglia	upregulates	cell_type	0.90
DTG	upregulates	entity	0.90
STAT3	activates	gene	0.90
Microglia	expressed_in	cell_type	0.88
NF-κB Signaling	upregulates	pathway	0.88
Dolutegravir	upregulates	drug	0.87
Ponicidin	downregulates	compound	0.85
Brainstem-To-Basal Ganglia Circuit	involved_in	mechanism	0.85
SOCS3	inhibits	protein	0.85
Cachexia	upregulates	disease	0.85
Glucose	upregulates	compound	0.85
PI3K-Akt signaling pathway	regulates	pathway	0.85
KCNK2	downregulates	gene	0.85
Vinpocetine	downregulates	drug	0.85
Palmitoleic Acid	downregulates	compound	0.85
STAT3	phosphorylates	entity	0.85
Influenza A Virus	upregulates	disease	0.85
Rotenone	upregulates	compound	0.85
GPR37	upregulates	gene	0.85
ER STRESS	mediates	entity	0.85
IL17	upregulates	pathway	0.85
Leucocyanidin	downregulates	compound	0.85
PCTR1	downregulates	compound	0.80
HEARING_LOSS	upregulates	phenotype	0.80
Bergenin	downregulates	compound	0.80
SQDS	inhibits	drug	0.80
rs13306436	modifies	gene	0.80
Andrographis paniculata	inhibits	drug	0.80

Targeting Hypotheses (0)

Hypotheses where this entity is a therapeutic target

Hypothesis	Score	Disease	Analysis
No targeting hypotheses

Mentioning Analyses (5)

Scientific analyses that reference this entity

Experiments (0)

Experimental studies targeting or related to this entity

Experiment	Type	Disease	Score	Feasibility	Model	Status	Est. Cost
No experiments found

Related Papers (0)

Scientific publications cited in analyses involving this entity

Title & PMID	Authors	Journal	Year	Citations
No papers found

Debates (9)

Multi-agent debates referencing this entity

Related Research

Hypotheses and analyses mentioning IL6 in their description or question text

No additional research found

IL6

Understanding Entity Pages

Summary

Wiki Pages (4)

IL6 - Interleukin 6

IL6ST - Interleukin 6 Signal Transducer (gp130)

IL6 (Redirect)

IL6 Signal Transducer (gp130/IL6ST) Protein

Pathway Diagram

Outgoing (1331)

Incoming (807)

Targeting Hypotheses (0)

Mentioning Analyses (5)

scRNA-seq Processing and Cell Type Annotation of AD Brain

Why do systemic anti-inflammatory drugs fail in AD despite cardiovascular effica

Systemic immune profiling and peripheral immune contributions to neurodegenerati

Which cell types show the most significant expression changes for neurodegenerat

Senolytic therapy for age-related neurodegeneration

Experiments (0)

Related Papers (0)

Debates (9)

Hypothesis debate: SASP-Mediated Complement Cascade Amplification

Can standardized scRNA-seq processing and automated annotation identify novel ce

Does the hybrid DAM + interferon-response microglial population represent a nove

How do peripheral immune system alterations influence CNS pathology and neurodeg

How do peripheral immune system alterations influence CNS pathology and neurodeg

How do peripheral immune system alterations influence CNS pathology and neurodeg

The debate noted clinical failures of TNF-α and IL-6 inhibitors in AD despite th

Senolytics targeting p16/p21+ senescent astrocytes and microglia may reduce SASP

The debate mentioned gene expression profiling but did not specify which neural

Related Research