THE ISOLATION AND SEQUENCE OF CANINE INTERLEUKIN-2

A cDNA corresponding to canine IL-2 has been isolated and sequenced. T he cDNA was synthesised using RT-PCR, with oligonucleotide primers des igned from conserved regions of published IL-2 sequences. The cDNA enc odes a predicted full length IL-2 protein of 155 amino-acids. At the n ucleic acid level, the canine cDNA shows 92, 88, 88, 82 and 74% homolo gy to published sequences of feline, human, equine, bovine and murine IL-2, respectively. The derived protein shows 90, 86, 85, 76 and 75% s imilarity to feline, human, equine, murine and bovine IL-2 homologs.