The nucleotide sequence of the bovine interleukin-5-encoding cDNA

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Molecular Biology
• Comparative Genomics

Background:

• Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is a critical cytokine involved in immune responses, particularly in eosinophil and B-cell development.
• Understanding the bovine homologue of IL-5 (boIL-5) is essential for studying bovine immunology and developing targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the nucleotide sequence of the bovine interleukin-5 (boIL-5) gene.
• To characterize the predicted protein product of boIL-5.
• To compare the boIL-5 sequence with homologous sequences in other species.

Main Methods:

• Total cDNA was generated from stimulated bovine peripheral blood lymphocytes.
• The boIL-5 gene was amplified using primers based on ovine IL-5 cDNA sequences.
• Nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities were compared with ovine, human, mouse, and rat IL-5.

Main Results:

• The boIL-5 coding sequence is 405 bp long, encoding a 134 amino acid precursor protein (15.2 kDa).
• A putative 19 amino acid signal peptide is cleaved, yielding a mature protein of 13.1 kDa.
• High nucleotide (96%) and amino acid (97%) identity was observed with ovine IL-5, with lower identities to human, mouse, and rat IL-5.

Conclusions:

• The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of boIL-5 have been elucidated.
• boIL-5 shows significant homology to ovine IL-5, suggesting conserved function.
• This data is valuable for comparative immunology and understanding bovine immune mechanisms.