title: Molecular cloning of canine interleukin-31 and its expression in various tissues.
abstract: The newly discovered cytokine, interleukin-31 (IL-31), belongs to the short-chain cytokine group. It was reported that transgenic expression of IL-31-induced pruritus, similar to atopic dermatitis, in mice, further, excessive amounts of IL-31 was also expressed in the skin from human patients with atopic dermatitis as compared to that from normal people. In this study, canine IL-31 was molecularly cloned from concanavalin A-stimulated canine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Canine IL-31 contains 4 alpha-helix structures characteristic of the IL-31 family, and the amino acid identity of canine IL-31 with those of human or mouse is 54% and 28%, respectively. Furthermore, we detected low levels of canine IL-31 in the thymus, testis, spleen, and kidneys, but not in the skin of atopic dogs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan. mizutaku@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanbayashi
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okawa
authors.forename: Sadatoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okuda
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D004285:Dogs / Q000276:immunology*; D007378:Interleukins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D007378:Interleukins; D012333:RNA, Messenger