of expression of IL-2 and these pathways is induced. At the same time Oct-1 is expressed. It helps the activation. Oct1 is expressed in T-lymphocytes and Oct2 is induced after cell activation. NFAT has multiple family members, all of them are located in cytoplasm and signaling goes through calcineurin, NFAT is dephosphorylated and therefore translocated to the nucleus. AP-1 is a dimer and is composed of c-Jun and c-Fos proteins. It cooperates with other transcription factors including NFkB and Oct. NFkB is translocated to the nucleus after costimulation through CD28. NFkB is a heterodimer and there are two binding sites on the IL-2 promoter. Function IL-2 has essential roles in key functions of the immune system, tolerance and immunity, primarily via its direct effects on T cells. In the thymus, where T cells mature, it prevents autoimmune diseases by promoting the differentiation of certain immature T cells into regulatory T cells, which suppress other T cells that are otherwise primed to attack normal healthy cells in the body. IL-2 enhances activation-induced cell death (AICD). IL-2 also promotes the differentiation of T cells into effector T cells and into memory T cells when the initial T cell is also stimulated by an antigen, thus helping the body fight off infections. Together with other polarizing cytokines, IL-2 stimulates naive CD4+ T cell differentiation into Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes while it impedes differentiation into Th17 and folicular Th lymphocytes. IL-2 increases the cell killing activity of both natural killer cells and cytotoxic T cells. Its expression and secretion is tightly regulated and functions as part of both transient positive and negative feedback loops in mounting and dampening immune responses. Through its role in the development of T cell immunologic memory, which depends upon the expansion of the number and function of antigen-selected T cell clones, it plays a key role in enduring cell-mediated immunity. Evolution IL-2 has been discovered in all classes of jawed vertebrates, including sharks, at a similar genomic location. In fish, IL-2 shares a single receptor alpha chain with its related cytokines IL-15 and IL-15-like (IL-15L). This "IL-15Rα" receptor chain is similar to mammalian IL-15Rα, and in tetrapod evolution a duplication of its coding gene plus further diversification created mammalian IL-2Rα. Sequences, and structural analysis of grass carp IL-2, suggest that fish IL-2 binds IL-15Rα in a manner reminiscent of how mammalian IL-15 binds to IL-15Rα. Despite fish IL-2 and