Biochemical and biologic characterization of lymphocyte regulatory molecules. VIII. Purification of interleukin 2 from a human T cell leukemia.

The ability of interleukin 2 (IL 2) to stimulate and maintain growth in IL 2-dependent cell lines distinguishes this substance from interleukin 1 and other T cell lymphokines. Jurkat-FHCRC, a human T cell leukemia cell line, has been shown to produce relatively high quantities of IL 2 after stimulation with the T cell mitogens phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A. In this paper we describe techniques used to isolate human IL 2 from Jurkat supernatants and the biochemical properties of the resulting material. IL 2 produced by this cell line is eluted from a DEAE-Sephacel ion-exchange column with 0.05 M NaCl and has a m.w. determined by AcA54 gel chromatography in the range of 9000 to 18,000. Isoelectric focusing yields active material with a pI value of 7.75. Elution of IL 2 from a SDS-polyacrylamide gel shows it to have a m.w. of approximately 13,500. This material is capable of stimulating mouse as well as human IL 2-dependent cell lines.