Interleukin-14 is a cytokine

Cytokine

Cytokines are small cell-signaling protein molecules that are secreted by the glial cells of the nervous system and by numerous cells of the immune system and are a category of signaling molecules used extensively in intercellular communication...

 that is also called High molecular weight B-cell growth factor

Growth factor

A growth factor is a naturally occurring substance capable of stimulating cellular growth, proliferation and cellular differentiation. Usually it is a protein or a steroid hormone. Growth factors are important for regulating a variety of cellular processes....

(HMW-BCGF) that controls the growth and proliferation

Cell growth

The term cell growth is used in the contexts of cell development and cell division . When used in the context of cell division, it refers to growth of cell populations, where one cell grows and divides to produce two "daughter cells"...

 of both normal and cancerous B cells. This molecule was also recently designated taxilin. IL-14 induces B-cell proliferation, inhibits antibody

Antibody

An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...

 secretion, and expands selected B-cell subgroups. This interleukin

Interleukin

Interleukins are a group of cytokines that were first seen to be expressed by white blood cells . The term interleukin derives from "as a means of communication", and "deriving from the fact that many of these proteins are produced by leukocytes and act on leukocytes"...

 is produced mainly by T cell

T cell

T cells or T lymphocytes belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes, and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. They can be distinguished from other lymphocytes, such as B cells and natural killer cells , by the presence of a T cell receptor on the cell surface. They are...

s and certain malignant

Malignant

Malignancy is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis...

 B cells.

Two distinct transcripts

Transcription (genetics)

Transcription is the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. Both RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language that can be converted back and forth from DNA to RNA by the action of the correct enzymes...

 are produced from opposite strands of the il14 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

 that are called IL-14α and IL-14β. The il14 locus is near the gene for LCK

Lck

Lck is a protein that is found inside specialized cells of the immune system called lymphocytes. Lck is a tyrosine kinase, which phosphorylates tyrosine residues of certain proteins involved in the intracellular signaling pathways of these lymphocytes...

 on chromosome

Chromosome

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...

1 in humans.

IL14 interleukin 14 [ Homo sapiens ]
Gene ID: 3599, discontinued on 10-May-2005.
GeneID was defined by L15344.1, which aligns on the strand opposite to TXLNA, alpha taxilin.