IL7, Official Symbol IL7provided by HGNC Official Full Name interleukin 7provided by HGNC Primary source HGNC:HGNC:6023 See related Ensembl:ENSG00000104432 MIM:146660; AllianceGenome:HGNC:6023 Gene type protein coding RefSeq status REVIEWED Organism Homo sapiens Lineage Eukaryota; Metazoa; Chordata; Craniata; Vertebrata; Euteleostomi; Mammalia; Eutheria; Euarchontoglires; Primates; Haplorrhini; Catarrhini; Hominidae; Homo Also known as IL-7 Summary The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine important for B and T cell development. This cytokine and the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) form a heterodimer that functions as a pre-pro-B cell growth-stimulating factor. IL7 is found to be a cofactor for V(D)J rearrangement of the T cell receptor beta (TCRB) during early T cell development. This cytokine can be produced locally by intestinal epithelial and epithelial goblet cells, and may serve as a regulatory factor for intestinal mucosal lymphocytes. IL7 plays an essential role in lymphoid cell survival, and in the maintenance of naive and memory T cells. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms. Additional splice variants have been described but their presence in normal tissues has not been confirmed. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can be a potent inducer of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines which may defend against the infection, but may also mediate destructive lung injury. Elevated serum IL7 levels, together with several other circulating cytokines and chemokines, has been found to be associated with the severity of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19). [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2020] Annotation information Note: This gene has been reviewed for its involvement in coronavirus biology, and is involved in cytokine storm inflammatory response. Expression Broad expression in lymph node (RPKM 2.7), skin (RPKM 2.5) and 24 other tissues See more Orthologs mouse all