title: Molecular cloning, chromosomal location, and biological activity of porcine interleukin-21.
abstract: A pig interleukin-21 (IL-21) cDNA was successfully cloned and sequenced from porcine peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) stimulated with 10 microg/ml concanavalin A (ConA), 10 microg/ml phytohemagglutinin P (PHA), 50 ng/ml phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), and 0.5 microg/ml anti-porcine CD3 antibody for 48 hr. The open reading frame of the porcine IL-21 cDNA is 459 base pairs in length and encodes 152 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence of the porcine IL-21 shows 86.2%, 77.7%, and 58.4% identity to the bovine, human, and murine IL-21, respectively. The porcine IL-21 gene was mapped to porcine chromosome 8 (8q22-->q23) by means of fluorescence in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping, where the porcine IL-2 gene had been mapped nearby. The recombinant porcine mature IL-21 expressed by E. coli induced dose-dependent proliferation and IFN-gamma production from a human NK cell line, NK0. The porcine IL-21 identified in this study will be helpful for the enhancement of innate immune responses of pigs.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Animal Health, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muneta
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kikuma
authors.forename: Hirohide
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uenishi
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshihara
authors.forename: Maiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamashima
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001681:Biological Assay; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021101:Radiation Hybrid Mapping; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000235:genetics*; D000098546:Interleukin-21
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007378:Interleukins; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000098546:Interleukin-21