interleukin-2

noun

in·​ter·​leu·​kin-2 ˌin-tər-ˈlü-kən-ˈtü 

: an interleukin produced by antigen-stimulated helper T cells in the presence of interleukin-1 that induces proliferation of immune cells (such as T cells and B cells) and is used experimentally especially in treating certain cancers

—abbreviation IL-2

Examples of interleukin-2 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s injected under the skin and targets the receptor on the surface of certain immune cells that binds to the messenger protein interleukin-2 (IL-2), a crucial regulator of the immune system. — New Atlas, 24 June 2025

In Paris, David Klatzmann, an immunologist at Sorbonne University, is experimenting with treating autoimmune disorders with low levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), an immune-signaling molecule first used to treat cancer in the mid-1980s. — Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2019

Synthorx has developed a partly artificial version of interleukin-2, a natural compound with anti-cancer activity. — San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2019

Researchers studying the immune system discovered the molecules interferon and interleukin-2; each was initially hailed as a promising treatment based on their dramatic effects in shrinking tumors in rodents. — Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

interleukin-2

noun

-ˈtü 

: an interleukin produced by antigen-stimulated helper T cells in the presence of interleukin-1 that induces proliferation of immune cells (as T cells and B cells) and has been used experimentally especially in treating certain cancers

—abbreviation IL-2