IL-36 receptor

Class

Anti-IL-36R monoclonal antibody

The IL-36 receptor is a cell-surface receptor belonging to the interleukin-1 receptor family, expressed on keratinocytes (skin cells), immune cells, and other epithelial tissues. It is engaged by a group of related signaling proteins called IL-36 cytokines, which are released during tissue injury or infection and act as early alarm signals that recruit and activate immune cells, particularly neutrophils. In healthy tissue, this signaling is tightly restrained by a natural antagonist; when that restraint is lost or overwhelmed, IL-36 signaling can become self-amplifying, producing severe, rapidly escalating skin inflammation. This biology is most clearly implicated in generalized pustular psoriasis, a rare and severe skin condition marked by widespread sterile pustules, but IL-36 pathway activity has also been studied in other neutrophil-driven inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases. Monoclonal antibodies that block the IL-36 receptor prevent the cytokines from engaging it, interrupting the inflammatory amplification loop at its source. Some molecules in development pair IL-36 receptor blockade with inhibition of IL-23, a distinct cytokine pathway that sustains chronic, T-cell-driven skin inflammation, on the reasoning that acute pustular flares and underlying chronic plaque disease may require addressing both drivers simultaneously.