• IL13RA2 is a binding receptor for IL13 with high affinity, but not to IL4.
• Homozygous mice expressed chimeric IL13RA2 and developed normally.
• This model is useful in studying the role of IL13RA2 in proliferation, migration and apoptosis of different tumors.

Strain specific analysis of IL13RA2 mRNA expression in wild-type C57BL/6N mice and B-hIL13RA2 mice by RT-PCR. Brain RNA were isolated from wild-type C57BL/6N mice (+/+) and homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice (H/Y), then cDNA libraries were synthesized by reverse transcription, followed by PCR with mouse or human IL13RA2 primers. Mouse Il13ra2 mRNA was detectable only in wild-type C57BL/6N mice. Human IL13RA2 mRNA was detectable only in homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice but not in wild-type mice. 

IL13RA2 expression analysis in wild-type C57BL/6N mice and homozygous humanized B-hIL13RA2 mice by flow cytometry. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) were induced from wild-type C57BL/6N mice (+/+) and homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice (H/H). Protein expression was analyzed with anti-human IL13RA2 antibody (Biolegend, 360306) by flow cytometry. Human IL13RA2 was only detectable in cultured MEF from homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice.

Western blot analysis of IL13RA2 protein expression in homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice. Various tissue lysates were collected from wild-type C57BL/6N mice (+/+) and homozygous B-hIL13RA2 mice (H/Y), and then analyzed by western blot with anti-IL13RA2 antibody (abcam, ab260044). 40 μg total proteins and 20 μg total MEF proteins were loaded for western blotting analysis. IL13RA2 was detectable in kidney and embryo (higher expression level), testis and bladder, while the expression level in brain was too low to be detectable.