About IL-7
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]

About FITC
Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) has an excitation peak at 495 nm and an emission peak at 519 nm. The name FITC is a misnomer in that the isothiocyanate is a reactive form of this dye. Once FITC is conjugated to an antibody, it is simply Fluorescein conjugated. FITC is one of the most widely used dyes for fluorescent applications, therefore most instruments come standard with a 488 nm laser and FITC filter set up. FITC is commonly conjugated to secondary antibodies and used in applications such as flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, and immunohistochemistry. FITC is relatively dim, sensitive to photobleaching and it is susceptible to changes is pH. There are better performing alternatives to FITC, like Vio®Bright 515, Alexa Fluor™ 488, iFluor® 488, CF®488A and DY-488. FITC is a long-time generic dye with no sole manufacturer or trademark.