Human IL-15 gene, mRNA, and protein structure.

The human IL-15 locus consists of 9 exons and 8 introns and is located on chromosome 4q31.10 11 Two IL-15 mRNA isoforms have been described, the classical LSP and alternative SSP, with both encoding an identical IL-15 mature protein of 114 AAs (see text for details). Translational start sites (→) and stop codons (●) are indicated; in2 indicates intron 2.