Recombinant Mouse IL-12, Tag Free

Interleukin 12, also known as Natural Killer Cell Stimulatory Factor (NKSF) or Cytotoxic Lymphocyte Maturation Factor (CLMF), is a heterodimeric pleiotropic cytokine made up of a 40 kDa (p40) subunit and a 35 kDa (p35) subunit. IL-12 is produced by macrophages and B lymphocytes and has been shown to have multiple effects on T cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells. Some of these IL-12 activities include the induction of IFN- gamma and TNF in resting and activated T and NK cells; the enhancement of cytotoxic activity of resting NK and T cells, the stimulation of resting T cell proliferation in the presence of a comitogen; and the enhancement of NK cell proliferation. Current evidence indicates that IL-12 is a key mediator of cellular-immunity and induces the differentiation of Th1 cells from precursor T helper cells. Based on its activities, it has been suggested that IL-12 may have therapeutic potential as a vaccine adjuvant that promotes cellular-immunity and as an anti-tumor and anti-viral agent.Human and mouse IL-12 share 70% and 60% amino acid sequence identity in their p40 and p35 subunits, respectively. While mouse IL-12 is active on both human and mouse cells, human IL-12 is not active on murine cells ^[1].IL-12 is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of a p35 and a p40 subunit. It is produced primarily by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and exerts immunoregulatory effects on T and natural killer (NK) cells ^[2-4].Endogenous IL-12 appears to be a pre-requisite for generating optimal Th1 responses and plays a pivotal role in promoting cell-mediated immunity against intracellular pathogens ^[5-7].

Reference

[1]. Vignali, D.A.et al. (2012 ) Nat Immunol.22-8.

[2]. Kobayashi M.et al. (1989) J Exp Med 170:827

[3]. Stern AS. et al. (1990) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87:6808

[4] Gubler U. et al. (1991) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:4143

[5] Wolf SF. et al. (1991) J Immunol 146:3074

[6] Cooper AM. et al. (1997) J Exp Med 186:39

[7] Mattner F. et al. (1996) Eur J Immunol 26:1553.