IL-21 Antibody

Background

Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is a secreted, type-I cytokine with immunoregulatory activity. Human IL-21 shares the common gamma-chain with IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, and IL-15 proteins but, in addition, binds to a unique IL-21R alpha chain which triggers a cascade of events which includes activation of the tyrosine kinases JAK1 and JAK3, followed by activation of the transcription factors STAT1 and STAT3. Bovine and human IL-21 have pleiotropic functions and are mainly produced by activated T-cells in response to antigenic stimulation, but target a broad range of lymphoid and myeloid cells of the immune system (T cells, B cells, natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells). IL21 is therefore is able to regulate innate and acquired immune responses. The biological effects of IL-21 include induction of differentiation, maturation, and proliferation of T-cells-stimulated B-cells into plasma cells and memory B-cells, stimulation (in conjunction) with IL-4 of IgG production, and induction of apoptotic effects in naive B-cells and stimulated B-cells in the absence of T-cell signaling. Human IL-21 has also been shown to promote the anti-tumor activity of CD8+ T-cells and NK cells. During T-cell mediated immune response, IL21 may inhibit dendritic cells’ (DC) activation and maturation. In synergy with IL15 and IL18, IL21 stimulates interferon gamma production in T-cells and NK cells; with the IL15, it may play a role in proliferation and maturation of natural killer (NK) cells. The open reading frame of the bovine IL-21 cDNA is 459 bp in length and encodes 152 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence is 78-81% and 58-67% homologous to the predicted human and murine IL-21 amino acid sequences, respectively. In one study, recombinant bovine IL-21 strongly induced NK cell proliferation using a human NK cell-line, NK0, and enhanced the lymphokine activated killer (LAK) activity of bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In another by the same authors, recombinant bovine mature IL-21 induced the proliferation of human IL-2-dependent cells, ILT-MAT. Anti-IL-21 antibody is ideal for investigators involved in Cancer and Immunology research.