Description
Interleukin-2 receptor subunit alpha (IL2RA) is also known as IL-2R subunit alpha, IL-2-RA, IL2-RA, TAC antigen, p55, CD antigen CD25, is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein.
IL2RA is expressed on activated T cells and regulatory T cells, and is capable of binding IL2 with low affinity by itself.
However, a ligand-induced high affinity heterotrimeric receptor complex is produced when IL2RA is associated non-covelently with the IL2 receptor beta and gamma chain, and subsequently initiates the intacellular signal pathways such as MAPK or JAK/STAT.
On dendritic cells (DC), CD25 has been previously regarded as an activation marker, while both murine and human DC can express CD25, they do not express the beta-chain of the IL-2 receptor, which is indispensable for the execution of IL-2 signaling