This product contains sodium azide as preservative. Although the amount of sodium azide is very small appropriate care must be taken when handling this product.
General Information
Biological Significance
Interleukin 5 or IL-5 is an interleukin produced by T helper-2 cells and mast cells. Its functions are to stimulate B cell growth and increase immunoglobulin secretion. It is also a key mediator in eosinophil activation. IL-5 is a 115 amino acid (in man, 133 in the mouse) long TH2 cytokine which is part of the hematopoietic family. Unlike other members of this cytokine family (namely IL-3 and GM-CSF) , this glycoprotein in its active form is a homodimer. The IL-5 gene is located on chromosome 11 (in the mouse, chromosome 5 in humans) in close proximity to the genes encoding IL-3, IL-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) which are often co-expressed in TH2 cells. Interleukin-5 is also expressed by eosinophils and has been observed in the mast cells of asthmatic airways by immunohistochemistry. IL-5 expression is regulated by several transcription factors including GATA3.