Mouse IL-12 is a heterodimeric pleiotropic cytokine made up of a 40 kDa (p40) subunit and a 35 kDa (p35) subunit. Human and mouse IL-12 share 70% and 60% amino acid sequence identity in their p40 and p35 subunits, respectively. While mouse IL-12 is active on both human and mouse cells, human IL-12 is not active on murine cells. It is involved in the differentiation of naive T cells into Th1 cells. It is known as a T cell-stimulating factor, which can stimulate the growth and function of T cells. It stimulates the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) from T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, and reduces IL-4 mediated suppression of IFN-γ. T cells that produce IL-12 have a coreceptor, CD30, which is associated with IL-12 activity. IL-12 plays an important role in the activities of natural killer cells and T lymphocytes.IL-12 mediates enhancement of the cytotoxic activity of NK cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
