. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Oct 1.

Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Immunol. 2011 Aug 31;23(5):598–604. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2011.08.003

Table 1.

Main Biological functions of IL-2

Cell type	Primary activities
CD4⁺T cells	Induces proliferation and survival Promotes activation-induced cell death (AICD) Required for Thl, Th2, and Treg differentiation but represses Thl7 differentiation
CD8⁺ T cells	Induces differentiation and expansion of effector cells Augments cytolytic activity Promotes generation and proliferation of memory CD8⁺ T cells
B cells	Enhances antibody secretion Promotes proliferation
NK cells	Promotes proliferation Augments cytokine production Enhances cytolytic activity
Neutrophils	Augments cytokine production