Interleukin-13, 109 amino acids, rat recombinant (rrIL-13)

Rat recombinant Interleukin-13 produced in E.coli is a single, non-glycosylated polypeptide chain containing 109 amino acids and having a molecular mass of 11.9 kDa. IL-13 is an immunoregulatory cytokine produced primarily by activated Th2 cells. IL-13 is involved in several stages of B-cell maturation and differentiation. It up-regulates CD23 and MHC class II expression, and promotes IgE isotype switching of B cells. This cytokine down-regulates macrophage activity, thereby inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This cytokine is found to be critical to the pathogenesis of allergen-induced asthma but operates through mechanisms independent of IgE and eosinophils. This gene, IL-3, IL-5, IL-4, and CSF2 form a cytokine gene cluster on chromosome 5q, with this gene particularly close to IL-4.