Bovine interleukin 2: Regulatory mechanisms

Abstract A cDNA clone of the bovine interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene has been isolated and demonstrated to produce a functional bovine IL-2 protein when transfected into either CV-1 or COS-1 monkey cells. Homology comparisons of both the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of bovine IL-2 with those of the human and mouse show extensive regions of sequence conservation between the species. The amino acid sequence of the mature bovine IL-2 protein shares about 60–63% homology with those of the human and mouse, but the 3′ untranslated regions of the human and mouse gene share as much, if not greater, sequence homology with the 3′ untranslated regions of the human and mouse genes. In particular, a tandemly repeated sequence (TATT), n, found in the 3′ untranslated tail of the bovine IL-2 clone is also found in the 3′ untranslated region of a large group of cytokine genes and other inducible genes of the lymphoid and immune response systems. This sequence may serve a specific regulatory function in the immune system.