IL-27 is a heterodimeric group 2 receptor ligand molecule that belongs to the IL-6/IL-12 family of long type I cytokines (1). It is composed of EBI3 (EBV-induced gene?3), a 34 kDa glycoprotein that is related to the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23, and p28, the?28 kDa glycoprotein that is related to the p35 chain of IL-12 (2-4). The human EBI3 gene encodes a 229 amino acid (aa) precursor that contains a 20 aa signal peptide and 209 aa mature protein (5). The mature region contains two potential N-linked glycosylation sites, two fibronectin type III domains, and two pairs of conserved cysteine residues with a WSXWS-like motif that places the molecule in the hematopoietin receptor family (5). Although p40, the EBI3 counterpart in IL-12, is known to form homodimers, there is no evidence to date that EBI3 also homodimerizes. Human EBI3 is 61% aa identical to mouse EBI3. The human p28 gene encodes a 243 aa precursor that contains a 28 aa signal sequence and 215?aa mature region (6).
