Recombinant human IL-4 (interleukin 4) can be used for Th2 differentiation of T cells and stimulation of B cells. The pleiotropic cytokine is associated with allergies and asthma, as it plays a central role in humoral and adaptive immune responses. The recombinant protein IL-4 is optimized for use in functional assays, differentiation studies, and cell culture.
Applications
Human IL-4 can be used for a variety of applications including:
In vitro generation of Mo-DCs together with GM-CSF.
In vitro differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells towards TH 2 cells.
Background information
Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a pleiotropic cytokine and plays a central role in humoral and adaptive immune responses. IL-4 is predominantly secreted by activated CD4
+
memory and effector T
H
2 cells, basophils, and mast cells. It promotes the proliferation and differentiation of B cells, as well as immunoglobulin isotype switching, and MHC class II antigen and low-affinity IgE receptor expression. Furthermore, IL-4 induces the differentiation of naive CD4
+
T cells into helper T
H
2 cells, while suppressing T
H
1 development, and promotes chemotaxis of mast cells and basophils. Excessive IL-4 production and mechanisms involving T
H
2 types have been associated with immunological disorders, such as IgE-mediated allergy.
Quality description
Research-grade
cytokines are suitable for a wide variety of cell culture applications. They are sterile-filtered prior to lyophilization. Generally, endotoxin levels are <0.1 ng/μg (<1 EU/μg), and purities are >95%. The biological activity is tested in appropriate bioassays.
Premium-grade
cytokines offer the convenience of high and well-defined biological activities and allow exact unit dosing for demanding applications. The biological activity is determined after lyophilization and reconstitution, and normalized to WHO/NIBSC standards whenever available. In general, endotoxin levels are <0.01 ng/μg (<0.1 EU/μg), and purities are >97%. Lot-specific certificates of analysis are available on request (macstec@miltenyibiotec.de).
The biological activity of Human IL-4, premium grade was determined by proliferation assay using TF-1 cells.
Human IL-4 activity assay.
The biological activity of Human IL-4, premium grade was determined by proliferation assay using TF-1 cells.
Selected references
Herr, F. et al. (2014) IL-2 phosphorylates STAT5 to drive IFN-γ production and activation of human dendritic cells. J. Immunol. 192: 5660-5670
Kaebisch R. et al. (2014) Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin-associated gene A impairs human dendritic cell maturation and function through IL-10-mediated activation of STAT3. J. Immunol. 192: 316-323
Guery L. et al. (2014) Fine-tuning nucleophosmin in macrophage differentiation and activation. Blood 118: 4694-4704
Grötsch, B. et al. (2014) The AP-1 transcription factor Fra1 inhibits follicular B cell differentiation into plasma cells. J. Exp. Med. 211(11): 2199-2212
Kitamura, T. et al. (1991) IL-1 up-regulates the expression of cytokine receptors on a factor-dependent human hemopoetic cell line, TF-1. Int. Immunol. 3: 571-577
Kandler et al. (2006) The anti-microbial peptide LL-37 inhibits the activation of dendritic cells by TLR ligands. Int. Immunol. 18: 1729-1736
Zhu, J. et al. (2006) Gfi-1 plays an important role in IL-2-mediated Tʜ2 cell expansion. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103: 18214-18219
T cell polarization by dengue virus-infected dendritic cells.
J. Infect. Dis. 203: 1763-1774
Perriard G. et al. (2015) Interleukin-22 is increased in multiple sclerosis patients and targets astrocytes. J. Neuroinflammation 12: 119
Kassianos A. J. et al. (2013) Human proximal tubule epithelial cells modulate autologous dendritic cell function. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 28: 303-312
Bacher, P. et al. (2014) Antigen-specific expansion of human regulatory T cells as a major tolerance mechanism against mucosal fungi. Mucosal Immunol 7(4): 916-928