Microtubule-Based Cell Motility: The Role of Microtubules in Cell Motility and Differentiation

Responses to cytokines include not only lymphocyte differentiation, but growth, chemotaxis, motility, and differentiation of a variety of cells. For example, interleukin-6 has activities that may affect epithelial cells as diverse as hepatocytes and endometrium, and it may also have nerve growth factor-like activity, promoting nerve cell differentiation. In the long term, cellular response depends upon the induction of appropriate transcription factors and gene activation, but the final differentiation pathways, as well as more immediate responses such as cell motility, also require assembly and activity of the cell cytomatrix.