interleukin-2

noun

in·​ter·​leu·​kin-2 ˌin-tər-ˈlü-kən-ˈtü How to pronounce interleukin-2 (audio)
: an interleukin produced by antigen-stimulated helper T cells in the presence of interleukin-1 that induces proliferation of immune cells (such as T cells and B cells) and is used experimentally especially in treating certain cancers
abbreviation IL-2

Examples of interleukin-2 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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When chemicals known as antigens, found on the surfaces of foreign invaders, bind to the molecular receptors on the membrane of a T cell, the T cell receptor pathway is turned on, signaling the DNA in the cell nucleus to create and release a protein called interleukin-2. Gary Taubes, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 The researchers gave 185 patients with advanced melanoma one of two treatments: the vaccine and interleukin-2, or interleukin-2 alone. Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2011 Investigators have used pet dogs to study the intranasal delivery of a cytokine, a small immune system molecule, called interleukin-2 (IL-2) to treat naturally occurring lung cancers. David J. Waters, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015 In Paris, David Klatzmann, an immunologist at Sorbonne University, is experimenting with treating autoimmune disorders with low levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), an immune-signaling molecule first used to treat cancer in the mid-1980s. Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2019 Synthorx has developed a partly artificial version of interleukin-2, a natural compound with anti-cancer activity. San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2019 Researchers studying the immune system discovered the molecules interferon and interleukin-2; each was initially hailed as a promising treatment based on their dramatic effects in shrinking tumors in rodents. Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2019 Eventually, the company produced a partly synthetic DNA code that modified interleukin-2 and similar molecules to eliminate the immune-suppressing effects, Shawver said. Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 30 Apr. 2018 One of these proteins, called interleukin-2, has been studied for decades as an immune-stimulating cancer therapy. Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 30 Apr. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of interleukin-2 was in 1979

Dictionary Entries Near interleukin-2

Cite this Entry

“Interleukin-2.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interleukin-2. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

interleukin-2

noun
: an interleukin produced by antigen-stimulated helper T cells in the presence of interleukin-1 that induces proliferation of immune cells (as T cells and B cells) and has been used experimentally especially in treating certain cancers
abbreviation IL-2
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