Contents

Interleukin 16

Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

IL16
Available structures PDB Ortholog search: PDBe RCSB List of PDB id codes 1I16, 1X6D, 5FB8
Identifiers
Aliases	IL16, LCF, NPRprIL-16, IL-16, interleukin 16
External IDs	OMIM: 603035; MGI: 1270855; HomoloGene: 18157; GeneCards: IL16; OMA:IL16 - orthologs
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 15 (human)[1] Band 15q25.1 Start 81,159,575 bp[1] End 81,314,058 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 7 (mouse)[2] Band 7 D3|7 47.43 cM Start 83,292,033 bp[2] End 83,394,934 bp[2]
RNA expression pattern Bgee Human Mouse (ortholog) Top expressed in granulocyte blood bone marrow cells appendix spleen monocyte lymph node cerebellar hemisphere right hemisphere of cerebellum tendon of biceps brachii Top expressed in pharynx granulocyte thymus spleen blood tibiofemoral joint mesenteric lymph nodes sciatic nerve cerebellar cortex dentate gyrus of hippocampal formation granule cell More reference expression data BioGPS More reference expression data
Gene ontology Molecular function cytokine activity CD4 receptor binding Cellular component plasma membrane intracellular anatomical structure extracellular region extracellular space nucleus cytoplasm cytosol nuclear speck Biological process induction of positive chemotaxis chemotaxis viral process regulation of transcription, DNA-templated leukocyte chemotaxis immune response transcription, DNA-templated regulation of calcium ion transport regulation of signaling receptor activity cytokine-mediated signaling pathway signal transduction Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs Species Human Mouse Entrez 3603 16170 Ensembl ENSG00000172349 ENSMUSG00000001741 UniProt Q14005 O54824 RefSeq (mRNA) NM_001172128 NM_004513 NM_172217 NM_001352684 NM_001352685 NM_001352686 NM_010551 NM_001360087 NM_001360088 NM_001360089 RefSeq (protein) NP_001165599 NP_004504 NP_757366 NP_001339613 NP_001339614 NP_001339615 NP_034681 NP_001347016 NP_001347017 NP_001347018 Location (UCSC) Chr 15: 81.16 – 81.31 Mb Chr 7: 83.29 – 83.39 Mb PubMed search [3] [4]
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse

Interleukin 16 is a pro-inflammatory pleiotropic cytokine. Its precursor, pro-interleukin-16 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IL16 gene.^[5][6] This gene was discovered in 1982 at Boston University by Dr. David Center and Dr. William Cruikshank.^[7]

The cytokine encoded by this gene is a pleiotropic cytokine that functions as a chemoattractant, a modulator of T cell activation, and an inhibitor of HIV replication. The signaling process of this cytokine is mediated by CD4. The product of this gene undergoes proteolytic processing, which is found to yield two functional proteins. The cytokine function is exclusively attributed to the secreted C-terminal peptide, while the N-terminal product may play a role in cell cycle control. Caspase 3 is reported to be involved in the proteolytic processing of this protein. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been reported.^[6] Interleukin 16 (IL-16) is released by a variety of cells (including lymphocytes and some epithelial cells) that has been characterized as a chemoattractant for certain immune cells expressing the cell surface molecule CD4. IL-16 was originally described as a factor that could attract activated T cells in humans, it was previously called lymphocyte chemoattractant factor (LCF).^[7] Since then, this interleukin has been shown to recruit and activate many other cells expressing the CD4 molecule, including monocytes, eosinophils, and dendritic cells.^[8]

The structure of IL-16 was determined following its cloning in 1994.^[9] This cytokine is produced as a precursor peptide (pro-IL-16) that requires processing by an enzyme called caspase-3 to become active. CD4 is the cell signaling receptor for mature IL-16.

Interleukin 16 has been shown to interact with:

• GRIN2A,^[10]
• GRIN2D,^[10]
• KCNJ10,^[10]
• KCNJ15,^[10]
• Kir2.1,^[10]
• PPP1R12A,^[11] and
• PPP1R12B.^[11]

• Overview of all the structural information available in the PDB for UniProt: Q14005 (Interleukin-16) at the PDBe-KB.

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.