Interleukin-5(IL-5) is also known as eosinophil differentiation factor(EDF). IL-5 is a potential candidate gene in the pathogenesis of asthma, as it is the main cytokine controlling eosinophil activity and eosinophils are pivotal in the development of airway inflammation. The predicted amino acid sequence of 134 amino acids is identical with that recently reported for human interleukin-5 but shows no significant homology with other known hemopoietic growth regulators. IL-5 is a lineage-specific hematopoietic growth factor that stimulates the production of eosinophils and eosinophil colonies from normal human bone marrow cells. IL-5 gene to human chromosome 5 at bands q23-31. Human and mouse of IL-5 share 70% amino acid sequence homology.
