Anti-Human IL-3 Purified No Carrier Protein (Clone: 4815)

IL-3 is a 17 kD pleiotropic cytokine and a member of a family of growth factors that sustains both the proliferation and the development of hematopoietic precursors. It also displays neurotrophic activity and is thought to be associated with neurologic disorders. Signal transmission is assured by high affinity binding to the IL-3 receptor (IL3RA). The receptor contains α and β subunits. IL-3 shares the β subunit with IL-5 and GM-CSF which explains their biological functional similarities. The IL-3/receptor complex induces JAK2/STAT5 cell signalization pathway and it can stimulate both the activation of gene expression and the suppression of apoptosis via transcription factor c‑myc and the Ras pathway, respectively. IL-3 fuels the differentiation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells into myeloid progenitor cells or lymphoid progenitor cells (when in conjunction with IL-7). Together with other cytokines, including EPO, GM-CSF, and IL-6, IL-3 can stimulate proliferation of all cells in the myeloid lineage. The constitutive expression of IL-3 in some leukemia cell lines (as opposed to selective T-cell expression in response to specific impulses or antigens) is thought to fuel the development of the disease. Post-chemotherapy IL-3 application can promote regeneration of granulocytes and platelets. Furthermore, during high-dose chemotherapy, the combination of IL-3, GM-CSF and stem cell factor increases peripheral blood stem cells. IL-3 is thought to have therapeutic potential in lymphohematopoietic disorders and solid cancers.