Discovery and Characterization
The IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) was the first interleukin receptor to be described and characterized by Kendall Smith and his team at Dartmouth Medical School. It was found to have a high affinity binding site and is expressed by antigen-activated T lymphocytes (T cells). Radiolabeled IL-2 concentrations found to saturate these sites (e.g. 1-100 pM) were identical to those determined to promote T cell proliferation. Subsequently, the three distinct receptor chains, termed alpha (α), beta (β) and gamma (γ) were identified. The high affinity of IL-2 binding is created by a rapid association rate (k = 107/M/s) contributed by the alpha chain, and a relatively slow dissociation rate (k' = 10−4/s) contributed by the beta and gamma chains.
Read more about this topic: IL-2 Receptor
Famous quotes containing the word discovery:
“He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)