interleukin 2: Meaning and Definition of

interleukin 2

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a lymphokine protein, secreted by T cells in response to antigen and interleukin 1, that stimulates the proliferation of T cells.
  2. a form of this protein produced by genetic engineering and used experimentally in immunotherapy. Abbr.: IL-2&hasp;&hasp; Cf. LAK cell.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.