Interleukin-23 (IL-23, IL-23P19, IL-23A, JKA3 induced upon T cell activation, SGRF, IL-23 p40, CLMF p40, CLMF 2, Cytotoxic lymphocyte maturation factor 2, NK cell stimulatory factor chain 2, T-cell stimulating factor)

IL-23 is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of the p40 subunit of IL-12 disulfide-linked with a protein p19. p19, like p35 of IL-12, is biologically inactive by itself. IL-23 interacts with IL-12Rbeta1 and an additional, novel beta2-like receptor subunit with STAT4 binding domain, termed IL-23R. IL-23 is secreted by activated mouse and Human dendritic cells. Biological activities of mouse IL-23 are distinct from those of mouse IL-12. Mouse IL-23 was found not to induce significant amounts of IFN-γ. Mouse IL-23 does induce strong proliferation of memory T cells (but not naïve T cells), whereas IL-12 has no effect on memory cells. Additionally, mouse IL-23 (but not IL-12) can activate mouse memory T cells to produce the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17. Human IL-23 has biological properties which are less distinct from Human IL-12; Human IL-23 induces proliferation of memory T cells and induces moderate levels of IFN-γ production by naïve and memory T cells, as compared to IL-12. The recombinant protein used as standard in this kit is produced in baculovirus-infected insect cells as an authentic heterodimer of precursor p19 and p40 subunits using a dual promoter expression system. It is distinct from other available forms of the protein in that it is expressed as a true heterodimer, as opposed to a single-chain, pseudo-heterodimer in which the subunits are joined by an artificial linker.