The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that shares sequence similarity with IL17. This cytokine is expressed by activated T cells, and has been shown to stimulate the production of several other cytokines, including IL6, IL8, and CSF2/GM_CSF. This cytokine is also found to inhibit the angiogenesis of endothelial cells and induce endothelial cells to produce IL2, TGFB1/TGFB, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. [provided by RefSeq].