Progress in the discovery of novel cytokines from human genome
Cytokines are small secreted proteins that play an important role in physiological and pathological processes. In the field of pharmacological development, cytokine drugs have achieved great success. In 2017, five of the world′s top ten best-selling drugs were inhibitors of cytokines or their receptors. The most innovative and challenging work in cytokine research is the discovery of novel cytokines with important functions and potential druggable prospects. In the post-genome era, a number of novel cytokines have been internationally discovered using reverse biology techniques, and from which, several cytokine drugs have been approved for marketing. This review highlights 10 novel cytokines found in the human genome by the author′s laboratory, including CTRP4, CCDC134, PSMP, VSTM1-v2, FAM3D, TMEM98, CSBF/C10orf99, FAM19A4, FAM19A5 and FAM19A1. Some of them have been shown to have important physiological and pathological functions. Identification of functional receptors, clinical specimen analysis or in vivo animal experiment has been carried out for them, which lays the foundation for further research in their clinical applications. 
 
 
Key words: 
Cytokine; Human genome; Reverse biology