Interleukin-2(IL2), formerly referred to as T-cell growth factor, is a powerfully immunoregulatory lymphokine that is produced by lectin- or antigen-activated T cells. It is produced not only by mature T lymphocytes on stimulation but also constitutively by certain T-cell lymphoma cell lines. The lymphokine interleukin-2(IL-2) is responsible for autocrine cell cycle progression and regulation of immune responses. IL-2 expression in mature thymocytes and T cells has been found to be tightly controlled by monoallelic expression. IL-2 can act as a growth hormone for both B and T lymphocytes. The human gene for interleukin 2(IL2) is assigned to chromosome 4. Mouse IL-2 contains 149 amino acids in mature form with the molecular mass of 17.2KDa.
