The evolution of our understanding of IL-11 mirrors, in many ways, the problems that are
faced by investigators in the post-genome era and the types of techniques that might need to
be used to deal with these issues. IL-11 was discovered as a soluble factor in fibroblast
supernatants that stimulated the proliferation of “IL-6–dependent” plasmacytoma cells. It was
subsequently demonstrated to be an important stimulator of platelet reconstitution and a
pleiotropic regulator of nonrespiratory tissues. In the lung, IL-11 is produced by a variety of …