Cloning of the γ Chain of the Human IL-2 Receptor

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1992-07, Vol.257 (5068), p.379-382
• Main Authors: Takeshita, Toshikazu, Asao, Hironobu, Ohtani, Kiyoshi, Ishii, Naoto, Kumaki, Satoru, Tanaka, Nobuyuki, Munakata, Hiroshi, Nakamura, Masataka, Sugamura, Kazuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; B lymphocytes; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; cDNA; Cell lines; Chromosome Mapping; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Complementary DNA; Cytokine receptors; Drug receptors; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; gamma chains; genes; Humans; Immunobiology; Interleukin-2; Interleukin-2 - metabolism; L cells; Lymphokines, interleukins ( function, expression); man; Molecular chains; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecules; nucleotide sequence; predictions; Receptors; Receptors, Interleukin-2 - genetics; Receptors, Interleukin-2 - isolation & purification; Receptors, Interleukin-2 - physiology; Regulatory factors and their cellular receptors; RNA, Messenger - biosynthesis; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; T lymphocytes; Transcription, Genetic; Transfection
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1631559

A third subunit, the γ chain, of the human interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) was identified, and a complementary DNA clone encoding this member of the cytokine receptor family was isolated. The γ chain is necessary for the formation of the high- and intermediate-affinity receptors, which consist of αβγ heterotrimers and βγ heterodimers, respectively. The IL-2R on murine fibroblastoid cells can be internalized after binding IL-2 only if the γ chain is present; α and β are insufficient for internalization. Thus, the γ chain is an indispensable component of the functional IL-2R.