Interleukin-5 (IL-5), produced by mast cells, T cells and eosinophils, is responsible for the activities attributed to eosinophil differentiating factor, B cell growth factor II and T cell-replacing factor (TRF). It can increase production and mobilization of eosinophils and CD34+ progenitors from the bone marrow. IL-5 plays an important role in inducing cell-mediated immunity against parasitic infections and certain tumors. IL-5 also promotes differentiation of basophils and primes them for histamine and leukotriene release.
Recombinant rat Interleukin-5 (rrIL-5) produced in E. coli is a disulfide-linked homodimer containing two non-glycosylated polypeptide chains of 113 amino acids each. A fully biologically active molecule, rrIL-5 has a molecular mass of 26.0 kDa analyzed by non-reducing SDS-PAGE and is obtained by proprietary chromatographic techniques at ExCell Bio.