Production and Measurement of Interleukin 2 and Interleukin 3

In 1979, at the Second International Lymphokine Workshop, it was decided to revise the nomenclature for antigen-nonspecific T cell proliferation and helper factors (Aarden et al. 1979). The term “interleukin” was created as a common denominator for lymphokines acting among different leukocytes. Since then, the field of lymphokine research has made great progress. This is in part due to the many new technical developments which have been applied to lymphokine research, such as improved tissue culture techniques (Chap. 12), the availability of monoclonal antibodies (Chap. 6), and better biochemical separation techniques followed by the possibility of microsequencing. The greatest impact on lymphokine research was the use of recombinant DNA technology which allowed a molecular understanding of many lymphokines.