Technical Articles

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) was discovered in 2000 and is a unique member of the IL-10 cytokine family. The human IL-22 gene encodes a precursor protein containing 179 amino acids. After translation and processing, the signal peptide containing 33 amino acids is cleaved to produce a mature secreted form containing 146 amino acids. Structurally, IL-22 adopts a characteristic four helix bundle topology shared by class II cytokines, and its unique spatial conformation determines its receptor binding specificity.