Interleukin 34

Interleukin-34, or IL-34 is a protein belonging to a group of cytokines called interleukins. It was originally identified in humans, by large scale screening of secreted proteins; chimpanzee, murine, rat and chicken IL-34 orthologs have also been found. The protein is composed of 241 amino acids, 39 kilodaltons in mass, and forms homodimers. IL-34 increases growth or survival of immune cells known as monocytes; it elicits its activity by binding the Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of human IL-34 is most abundant in spleen but occurs in several other tissues: thymus, liver, small intestine, colon, prostate gland, lung, heart, brain, kidney, testes, and ovary. The discovery of IL-34 protein in the red pulp of the spleen suggests involvement in growth and development of myeloid cells, consistent with its activity on monocytes. ^[1]

References

1. ↑ Lin H, Lee E, Hestir K, et al. (May 2008). "Discovery of a cytokine and its receptor by functional screening of the extracellular proteome". Science 320 (5877): 807–11. doi:10.1126/science.1154370. PMID 18467591. 

External links

Interleukin-34 at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)