A synthetic chimeric IL-2/IL-6 gene was synthesized to engineer a bifunctional lymphokine which was overproduced in Escherichia coli. Following denaturation of the inclusion bodies in 6 M guanidine and refolding and reoxidation in the presence of a redox system, the fusion protein (rIL-2/IL-6) was purified to homogeneity and shown to react with both monospecific anti-IL-2 and anti-IL-6 antisera. A collagen-like spacer was introduced between the two cytokine moieties to generate IL-2 and IL-6 molecules upon collagenase digestion. After cleavage, the two subunits, purified in a single-step procedure, were found to be correctly reoxidized and functionally as active as their native counterparts. Circular dichroism studies of rIL-2/IL-6 revealed that both cytokine subunits refolded independently and exhibited the alpha-helical structures characteristic of the corresponding wild-type lymphokines. The chimera displayed full IL-2 activity in the CTLL-2 cell proliferation assay. It also retained the IL-6 property to enhance IgM synthesis in SKW6.4 cells, induce the proliferation of B-cell hybridomas and stimulate the production of fibrinogen in hepatocytes. Because IL-2 amplifies the cellular immune response and IL-6 up-regulates the humoral response, this bifunctional lymphokine represents a potentially useful therapeutic adduct and may serve as an immunomodulator to enhance the host's response to vaccination.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.