IL15

Name

interleukin 15

Type

protein-coding

Position

141,636,237–141,735,276 (+)

Aliases

IL-15

Ensembl

ENSG00000164136

RefSeq RNA

NM_000585.5, NM_172174.2, NM_172175.3, NR_037840.3

RefSeq protein

NP_000576.1, NP_751915.1

The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that regulates T and natural killer cell activation and proliferation. This cytokine and interleukine 2 share many biological activities. They are found to bind common hematopoietin receptor subunits, and may compete for the same receptor, and thus negatively regulate each other's activity. The number of CD8+ memory cells is shown to be controlled by a balance between this cytokine and IL2. This cytokine induces the activation of JAK kinases, as well as the phosphorylation and activation of transcription activators STAT3, STAT5, and STAT6. Studies of the mouse counterpart suggested that this cytokine may increase the expression of apoptosis inhibitor BCL2L1/BCL-x(L), possibly through the transcription activation activity of STAT6, and thus prevent apoptosis. Alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene have been reported. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2011].