Characterization of cDNAs encoding the murine interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R) gamma chain: chromosomal mapping and tissue specificity of IL-2R gamma chain expression

The IL-2R gamma chain (IL-2R gamma) is an essential component of high- and intermediate-affinity IL-2Rs, playing critical roles for ligand binding and internalization. Recently, our laboratory has demonstrated that IL-2R gamma mutation results in X chromosome-linked severe combined immunodeficiency in humans, suggesting that IL-2R gamma plays a vital role in thymic maturation of human T cells. We now report the isolation and characterization of cDNAs encoding murine IL-2R gamma. The open reading frame encodes 369 aa, identical in length to that encoded by the human IL-2R gamma cDNA. Murine IL-2R gamma and human IL-2R gamma have 69% and 70% identity at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. As expected, the murine IL-2R gamma retains the WSXWS motif and four cysteine residues characteristic of cytokine receptor superfamily members. IL-2R gamma mRNA distribution shows significant tissue specificity, with particularly high-level expression in spleen and thymus, and higher expression in single-positive (CD4+8- or CD4-8+)-enriched thymocytes than in double-negative (CD4-8-) thymocytes. Finally, we have localized the murine IL-2R gamma gene, Il2rg, to the X chromosome between Rsvp and Plp and demonstrated that a defect in IL-2R gamma is not responsible for the X chromosome-linked xid mutation, which maps to this same region. The cloning of the murine IL-2R gamma cDNA will facilitate the investigation of the role of this protein in lymphocyte function and thymic development.