Interleukin 7 (IL7)

Interleukin 7 is a type I short-chain cytokine belonging to the hematopoietin family. Mouse IL-7 is an approximately 25 kDa monomeric glycoprotein that is synthesized as a 154 amino acid (aa) residue precursor with a 25 aa signal sequence and a 129 aa mature segment. Mature mouse IL-7 has six cysteine residues that form three intrachain disulfide bonds, only one of which is required for bioactivity. Although multiple alternatively spliced isoforms of human IL-7 that differ in their receptor-binding affinities exist, alternatively spliced isoforms of mouse IL-7 have not been reported. Cells known to express IL-7 include Class II MHC positive thymic cortical epithelial cells, follicular dendritic cells, intestinal epithelium, monocytes and keratinocytes, endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts, and bone marrow stromal cells.