Gnarra, J.R., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Otani, H., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Wang, M.G., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
McBride, O.W., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Sharon, M., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Leonard, W.J., Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) binds to and stimulates activated T cells through high-affinity IL-2 receptors (IL-2Rs). Such receptors represent a complex consisting of at least two proteins, the 55-kDa IL-2Rα chain and the 70-kDa IL-2Rβ chain. The low-affinity, IL-2Rα chain cannot by itself transduce a mitogenic signal, whereas IL-2 stimulates resting lymphocytes through the intermediate-affinity, IL-2Rβ receptor. We report here identification of the genomic locus for IL-2Rβ. The exons are contained on four EcoRI fragments of 1.1, 9.2, 7.2, and 13.7 kilobases. The 1.1-kilobase EcoRI fragment lies at the 5'-most end of the genomic locus and contains promoter sequences. The promoter contains no TATA box-like elements but does contain the d(GT)(n) class of middle repetitive elements, which may play an interesting regulatory role. The IL-2Rβ gene is localized to chromosome 22q11.2-q12, a region that is the locus for several lymphoid neoplasias.