IL-21, Interleukin-21, rat

IL-21, Interleukin-21, rat: Rat IL-21 is produced by CD4+ T cells in response to antigenic stimulation and can regulating immune system cells, for instance cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. The biological effects of IL-21 include induction of differentiation of T-cells-stimulated B-cells into plasma cells and memory B-cells, stimulation with IL-4 of IgG production, and induction of apoptotic effects in naïve B-cells and stimulated B-cells in the absence of T-cell signaling. Additionally, it promotes the anti-tumor activity of CD8+ T-cells and NK cells. IL-21 elicits its effect through binding to IL-21R, which also contains the gamma chain found in other cytokine receptors such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9 and IL-15. IL-21 shows having much relation with clinical illnesses, including cancer immunotherapy, viral infections and allergies. Mature rat IL-21 shares 88 % a.a. sequence identity with mouse IL-21. UnitProt ID: A3QPB9