Heterodimerizes with IL12B to form the IL-12 cytokine or with EBI3/IL27B to form the IL-35 cytokine .IL-12 is primarily produced by professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) such as B-cells and dendritic cells (DCs) as well as macrophages and granulocytes and regulates T-cell and natural killer-cell responses, induces the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), favors the differentiation of T-helper 1 (Th1) cells and is an important link between innate resistance and adaptive immunity .
