IL6 and rheumatoid arthritis: Alternative splicing of mRNAs of IL-6 and its receptor IL-6R has been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA.132–134 The splicing factor hnRNP M is shown to be a negative regulator of inflammatory and antimicrobial genes in innate immune cells by preventing the maturation of transcripts encoding proinflammatory molecules such as IL-6 via blocking pre-mRNA splicing.