Cloning and expression of JE, a gene inducible by platelet-derived growth factor and whose product has cytokine-like properties.

The platelet-derived growth factor-inducible gene JE has been widely used as a molecular marker for the cellular response to growth factors, antimitogenic agents, and other biological response modifiers; however, the structure of the JE gene and the nature of its encoded protein have not been previously described. We present here structural and regulatory features of the JE gene and its product that link it to a family of cytokines, including macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon alpha, interleukin 6 (also known as interferon beta 2, B-cell-stimulatory factor 2, 26-kDa protein, and hybridoma/plasmacytoma growth factor), and interleukin 2. Just as T lymphocytes secrete interleukins as a component of their response to mitogens, it appears that fibroblasts secrete cytokines as a component of their response to platelet-derived growth factor.