Interleukin-18 (IL-18) has been reported to exert significant immunoregulatory effects on inhibiting tumor growth through stimulating natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and promoting production of several cytokines, including interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Therefore, IL-18 might serve as a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment. However, the resource of this protein limits its availability for the clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to express and purify recombinant human (h) IL-18 protein using a yeast expression system. We reported here that hIL-18 gene was cloned into pPICZaC vector for expressing a recombinant hIL-18 protein using a yeast expression system. The recombinant hIL-18 protein was purified using centrifugal filter devices, hydrophobic chromatography, and anion exchange chromatography. The yield and purity of the recombinant hIL-18 reached 45.1% and 97.6%, respectively. This recombinant hIL-18 was shown to induce IFN-gamma production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and enhance NK cell cytotoxicity synergistically with IL-2. Furthermore, these recombinant hIL-18-induced effects were the same as those by standard hIL-18. Therefore, the yeast expression system used in this study provides a useful method to produce large-scale of hIL-18 for the clinical application. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.