IL-2 Cytokine Assay

IL-2 is a T cell growth factor, cytokine. IL-2 is produced by activated T cells, and binds to the IL-2R (receptor) found on T cells, and allows them to divide.

1. Add T cells + APC + antigen -- 24-48 hours --> remove culture supernatant which contains IL-2

A cell line that IL-2 can be measured using an IL-2-dependent is completely dependent on IL-2 for growth. Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Line (CTLL). CTLL stimulated by IL-2 incorporates 3H-Thymidine. This can be measured and plotted as thymidine uptake by CTLL versus supernatant dilution.

An alternate Assay would be the ELISA assay using two anti-IL-2 antibodies to measure IL-2.