Human interleukin-13 activates the interleukin-4-dependent transcription factor NF-IL4 sharing a DNA binding motif with an interferon-gamma-induced nuclear binding factor.

The effects of interleukin-13 (IL-13) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) on cellular functions were shown to be quite similar. We provide evidence that in monocytes as well as in T lymphocytes both IL-4 and IL-13 activate the same recently identified transcription factor NF-IL4 which binds to the specific responsive element IL-4RE. In addition, we show that a nuclear factor activated by interferon-gamma also interacts with the IL-4RE. It differs from NF-IL4 in the electrophoretic mobility of the complex with DNA, in its DNA-binding specificity and in the proteins interacting with the DNA sequence. Sensitivity against various enzyme inhibitors suggests that components of the signal transduction pathway are shared by all three cytokines.