What is Interleukin-2?
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a protein made by the body. T-helper cells, a kind of white blood cell, produce IL-2 when they are stimulated by an infection. IL-2 makes infection-fighting cells multiply and mature. Patients who use IL-2 have large increases in their CD4 cell counts. IL-2 is called an immune modulator. Interleukin-2 has been approved by the FDA to treat some types of cancer, but has not yet been approved for HIV disease. Health care providers can use it “off label” in patients with HIV (see Fact Sheet 105). Advertisement if (typeof ord==’undefined’) {ord=Math.random()*10000000000000000;} document.write(”); Using gene splicing, the Chiron Corporation developed a way to manufacture IL-2. Their version is called Proleukin.
Interleukin-2 is a cytokine, a specialized protein manufactured in the body by white blood cells called T-cells, also known as CD4 cells. As an interleukin, it acts as an immune system signaling molecule that relays information from cell to cell. The synthesis of interleukin-2 is stimulated by the presence of an infection. Its mechanism of action is to support the immune system by acting as an immune modulator. This is achieved by increasing the production and count of CD4 cells to fight the infection. As one might expect, a low CD4 cell count may indicate the onset of disease. Invading viral molecules, or antigens, attack and permeate these cells through their membranes. The antigens then multiply with the goal to replicate and spread the virus to other cells. A healthy immune system responds by first detecting the invading microbes through antigen receptors that reside on the surface of lymphocytes. As antigens bind to receptor sites, the production and release of interleukin-2 is tr
