To enable preclinical studies on homologous interleukin-3 (IL-3) in primate species, we isolated the gene encoding Rhesus monkey IL-3 (RhIL- 3). The nucleotide sequence of the RhIL-3 gene displayed 92.9% homology with that of the human IL-3 (hIL-3) gene. The isolated RhIL-3 gene encodes a 143-amino acid (aa) precursor polypeptide, nine C-terminal residues shorter than the human protein. Protein homology was found to be 89.5% for the signal peptide (19 aa) and 80.5% for the mature protein (124 aa). Comparison of the human and RhIL-3 coding sequences showed that the majority of substitutions had occurred at amino acid replacement sites indicating a rapid evolution of the IL-3 protein. After expression of a genomic fragment in COS cells, RhIL-3 cDNA was constructed, which enabled large-scale production of the RhIL-3 polypeptide, RhIL-3 produced by Bacillus licheniformis and purified to homogeneity appeared to be approximately 100-fold more effective in stimulating Rhesus monkey hematopoietic progenitors than hIL-3, whereas RhIL-3 and hIL-3 showed comparable stimulatory activity on normal as well as malignant human hematopoietic cells. Thus, the rapid evolution of hIL-3 has resulted in a unidirectional species specificity, which most likely restricts the in vivo effects of hIL-3 in Macaca species.

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Studies of the Collaborative Research Center 267, “Deformation Processes in the Andes,” focus on interdisciplinary geoscientific research in the central and Patagonian Andes involving all disciplines of geoscience. The combination of geophysical and geological field research, Global Positioning System monitoring, penological and geochemical analysis, age dating, and remote sensing provides new insight into the structure and tectonic evolution of the Andes.

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