[Function, molecular structure and gene expression of IL-4].
Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a T-lymphocyte-derived 20-kDa glycoprotein that has a broad spectrum of biological activity including growth and differentiation of T cells, B cells, mast cells, hematopoietic cells and non-hematopoietic cells. The biological effects of IL-4 are induced by binding to specific membrane receptors (IL-4R) on target cells. Molecular cloning of IL-4R revealed a novel cytokine receptor family, but not clues as to the signalling mechanism. The biochemical mechanism of IL-4 signal, induced by its specific binding, remains to be clarified. Recent studies on the physiological function of IL-4 are presented here.
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Second Department of Biochemistry, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015398:Signal Transduction
D015847:Interleukin-4