Production and characterization of bovine interleukin-2

A lymphokine analogous to interleukin-2 from other species was generated from bovine suprapharyngeal lymph nodes and characterized biochemically. The isolated material can support the long-term growth of concanavalin A (Con-A) or mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR)-activated bovine T cells. The material elutes from DEAE-Sephadex at a low salt concentration, approximately 0.075 M, and exhibits molecular weight of approximately 25,000 on Sephadex G-100. When subjected to analysis by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), three peaks of activity were observed, corresponding to molecular weights of 14,400, 16,800 and 20,200. Finally, the isolated material exhibited a marked heterogeneity when subjected to chromatofocussing. Three major peaks of activity, with pIs of approximately 5.95, 5.41 and 5.0 are present with peaks of lesser activity at pIs of 5.82, 5.70, 4.73 and 4.20.