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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Accurate and Simple Measurement of the Pro-inflammatory Cytokine IL-1β using a Whole Blood Stimulation Assay
Published on: March 2, 2011
Production of interleukin-12 as a self-processing 2A polypeptide
P J Chaplin1, E B Camon, B Villarreal-Ramos
1Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Nr. Newbury, Berkshire, UK. paul.chaplin@aahl.dah.csiro.au
Abstract:
Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of two disulfide-linked subunits (p40 and p35) encoded by separate genes. We used the apparent autocleavage property of a 2A peptide from the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) to express bovine (Bo) IL-12 as a self-processing polypeptide (p402Ap35). We demonstrate that 2A will mediate the cleavage of p402Ap35 into two separate subunits in a manner similar to that observed during the processing of the FMDV polypeptide. Furthermore, this 2A polypeptide encoded a functional heterodimer, which elicited activities associated with IL-12 in other species. We propose that this strategy of self-processing polypeptides may be used in many applications where the coordinated and stoichiometric expression of complex proteins is required.
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