Co-ordinated response to stress: Inflammatory signalling through IL-Rs (e.g. receptors for IL-6 or IL-11) can induce changes in the microtubule cytoskeleton [67], which in turn can redistribute macro-molecules and affect associated functions [30,31,42], such as local translation at sarcomere Z lines, metabolism and β-AR signalling; the β-AR system can exacerbate damage in conditions of impaired energy metabolism, such as heart failure. Here, IL6 is linked to heart failure.