Background
CD25 (alpha-chain of IL-2 receptor, or IL2RA), is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein with a signal peptide, an extracellular region, a transmembrane region, and a cytoplasmic domain. IL2RA is expressed on activated T cells and regulatory T cells, and is capable of binding IL2 with low affinity by itself. However, a ligand-induced high affinity heterotrimeric receptor complex is produced when IL2RA is associated non-covelently with the IL2 receptor beta and gamma chain, and subsequently initiates the intacellular signal pathways such as MAPK or JAK/STAT. On dendritic cells (DC), CD25 has been previously regarded as an activation marker, while both murine and human DC can express CD25, they do not express the beta-chain of the IL-2 receptor, which is indispensable for the execution of IL-2 signaling. The IL2RA (CD25) gene is a substantial component of the high-affinity receptor molecule highly expressed by activated T lymphocytes. Recently, a strong evidence was obtained for the involvement of IL-2RA in conferring susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D). Cancer growth and development is associated with the stimulation of the innate immune system, including enhanced interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R) expression in immune cells and its shedding into the circulation in a soluble form of sIL-2Ralpha. In most haematological malignancies, including different types of leukaemias and lymphomas, sIL-2Ralpha has been found to be released directly from the surface of neoplastic cells thus reflecting the tumour bulk, turnover and activity.
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