Therapeutics and prospects of Interleukin 2

Interleukin-2 was discovered back in 1983 as an autocrine growth factor for cultured T cells and was the first biological product created through the use of recombinant DNA. IL-2 tumor immunotherapy performed the first historical clinical demonstration of the possibility to cause an effective anticancer immune reaction, mediated by cytotoxic lymphocytes activated from IL-2 stimulation. The Interleukin 2 receptor is a heterotrimeric protein that is composed of three peptide chains: the alpha chain, the beta chain and the gamma chain of the common cytokine receptor. There are 3 majors’ ways of interfering with the IL-2/IL-2R to use it as treatments: Antibodies, Aptamers, and punctual mutagenesis. Recent studies have shown, that Il-2 therapies for cancer, specifically targets restoring the individual’s natural antitumor immune response. HIV directed treatments have demonstrated the necessity of introducing the IL-2 complemented with the patient’s antiretroviral therapy.