Interleukin-36 (IL-36) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine which plays an important role in the pathophysiology of several diseases. IL-36α, IL-36β, and IL-36γ (formerly IL-1F6, IL-1F8, and IL-1F9) are IL-1 family members that signal through the IL-1 receptor family members IL-1Rrp2 (IL-1RL2) and IL-1RAcP. IL-36α is mainly found in skin and lymphoid tissues, but also in fetal brain, trachea, stomach and intestine. It is expressed by monocytes, B and T cells. Notably, IL-36 alpha is the only novel IL-1 family member expressed on T-cells. Recombinant murine interleukin-36 alpha contains 160 amino acids residues which is a single non-glycosylated polypeptide. Specifically, mouse IL-36α shares 83 % a.a. sequence identity with rat IL-36α, 54-60 % with human, rabbit, equine and bovine IL-36α.
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