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Protein / target

Interleukin-5

Encoded byIL5P05113Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
3
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Antibody-tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Interleukin-5 receptor binding

Strongest disease association

Asthma

Via encoding gene IL5 · Genetic evidence · score 0.67

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Antibodies

Research activity

Emerging research

1 papers · latest 2010

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Homodimeric cytokine expressed predominantly by T-lymphocytes and NK cells that plays an important role in the survival, differentiation, and chemotaxis of eosinophils.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Homodimeric cytokine expressed predominantly by T-lymphocytes and NK cells that plays an important role in the survival, differentiation, and chemotaxis of eosinophils (PubMed:2653458, PubMed:9010276). Also acts on activated and resting B-cells to induce immunoglobulin production, growth, and differentiation (By similarity). Mechanistically, exerts its biological effects through a receptor composed of IL5RA subunit and the cytokine receptor common subunit beta/CSF2RB (PubMed:1495999, PubMed:22528658). Binding to the receptor leads to activation of various kinases including LYN, SYK and JAK2 and thereby propagates signals through the RAS-MAPK and JAK-STAT5 pathways respectively (PubMed:7613138)

Subcellular location

Secreted
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (16)

Gene Ontology

  • Cextracellular region
  • Cextracellular space
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Fcytokine activity
  • Fgrowth factor activity
  • Finterleukin-5 receptor binding
  • Pcell surface receptor signaling pathway via JAK-STAT
  • Pimmune response
  • Pinflammatory response
  • Pinterleukin-5-mediated signaling pathway
  • Ppositive regulation of B cell proliferation
  • Ppositive regulation of eosinophil differentiation

134 aa · 15 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Cell migrationUniProtImmune signallingUniProt · GO
View supporting evidence

Cell migration

  • ·Homodimeric cytokine expressed predominantly by T-lymphocytes and NK cells that plays an…

Immune signalling

  • ·Homodimeric cytokine expressed predominantly by T-lymphocytes and NK cells that plays an…
  • ·cytokine activity
  • ·interleukin-5 receptor binding
  • ·immune response

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

1 medicine · 3 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Asthma1 medicine
Chronic Disease1 medicine
Lung Diseases, Obstructive1 medicine

3 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 1 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

mepolizumab
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Interleukin-5 inhibitor

Indicated for Asthma, Chronic Disease, Lung Diseases, Obstructive

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

depemokimab
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Interleukin-5 inhibitor

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene IL5

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene IL5that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Asthma
0.92Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.71

Hypereosinophilic syndrome
0.65Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.52

Chronic rhinosinusitis
0.62Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.46

Nasal Polyps
0.61Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.46

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
0.56Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.42

View evidence synthesis (5)
AsthmaWell supported
0.92
agreement 0.811.00
Clinical48%Genetic44%Literature8%

Open Targets aggregate 0.71 · 3 independent evidence families

Hypereosinophilic syndromeModerately supported
0.65
agreement 0.490.81
Clinical91%Literature9%

Open Targets aggregate 0.52 · 2 independent evidence families

Chronic rhinosinusitisModerately supported
0.62
agreement 0.510.72
Clinical75%Genetic21%Literature4%

Open Targets aggregate 0.46 · 3 independent evidence families

Nasal PolypsModerately supported
0.61
agreement 0.500.72
Clinical77%Literature17%Genetic7%

Open Targets aggregate 0.46 · 3 independent evidence families

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveModerately supported
0.56
agreement 0.460.67
Clinical76%Literature14%Genetic10%

Open Targets aggregate 0.42 · 3 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Asthma0.71
Hypereosinophilic syndrome0.52
Nasal Polyps0.46
Chronic rhinosinusitis0.46
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive0.42
Vasculitis0.37

Drug development

3 compounds recorded · 3 approved

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (1 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (3)
MEPOLIZUMABApproval
RESLIZUMABApproval
DEPEMOKIMABApproval

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

AntibodiesStrong

Approved Drug and UniProt loc high conf support this modality.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (5)
AB · Approved DrugAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

COMPLETED · via mepolizumab · NCT04412044

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

4

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 2 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Label change2026-06-10

    Label change: DEPEMOKIMAB (BLA761458)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via depemokimab

  2. Regulatory approval2026-02-12

    Approval: Exdensur (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via depemokimab

  3. Regulatory approval2025-12-16

    Approval: DEPEMOKIMAB (BLA761458)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via depemokimab

  4. Regulatory approval2015-12-01

    Approval: Nucala (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via mepolizumab

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.

Research activity

1 papers · to 2010

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

Recent

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.