title: Multiple biological activities are expressed by a mouse interleukin 6 cDNA clone isolated from bone marrow stromal cells.
abstract: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) refers to the gene product that was characterized initially as beta 2 interferon/26-kDa protein produced by human fibroblasts and later was found to be identical to B-cell stimulatory factor 2, hybridoma/plasmacytoma growth factor, and probably hepatocyte-stimulating factor. Using the human IL-6 cDNA as a probe, we have isolated functional cDNA clones from mouse bone marrow stromal cell cDNA libraries. Sequence analysis of the mouse cDNA insert revealed significant homology between the human and mouse IL-6 cDNA clones both at the level of nucleotide (65%) and deduced amino acid (41%) sequences. The NH2-terminal sequence of the deduced protein is identical to a partial NH2-terminal sequence determined previously for a hybridoma/plasmacytoma growth factor and a plasmacytoma growth factor isolated from mouse T cells and macrophages, respectively. The mRNA for mouse IL-6 is expressed in IL-1-treated stromal cells and in activated T-cell and macrophage cell lines. Supernatants from COS-7 monkey cells transfected with the cDNA clone have plasmacytoma growth factor, hepatocyte-stimulating factor, and colony-stimulating factor activities, as well as the ability to support the growth of a factor-dependent myeloid cell line, thus revealing an additional biological activity for IL-6.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1104.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moulds
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Coffman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rennick
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000032:analysis*; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D015850:Interleukin-6; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D007378:Interleukins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004247:DNA