IL13

Name

interleukin 13

Type

protein-coding

Position

132,656,263–132,661,110 (+)

Aliases

IL-13, P600

Ensembl

ENSG00000169194

RefSeq RNA

NM_001354991.2, NM_001354992.2, NM_001354993.2, NM_002188.3

RefSeq protein

NP_001341920.1, NP_001341921.1, NP_001341922.1, NP_002179.2

This gene encodes an immunoregulatory cytokine produced primarily by activated Th2 cells. This cytokine 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, IL3, IL5, IL4, and CSF2 form a cytokine gene cluster on chromosome 5q, with this gene particularly close to IL4. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008].