The data herein is related to the research article entitled "Functional analyses of the interaction of chicken interleukin 23 subunit p19 with IL-12 subunit p40 to form the IL-23 complex", where it is demonstrated that the chicken interleukin (IL)-23α, IL-12p40, and IL-23 complex regulates Th1, Th17, and Treg cytokine production through heterodimer receptors as well as a homodimer receptor consisting of IL-12Rβ1 and IL-23R, and activates the JAK/STAT signaling pathways. Here, the effects of the recombinant chicken IL-23α, IL-12p40, and IL-23 complex protein on cell proliferation and nitric oxide (NO) production in chicken macrophage (HD11) and CU91 T cell lines are evaluated. In addition, the expression of IL-6, IL-17A, and interferon-γ mRNA were upregulated in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, treatment with the chicken IL-23α, IL-12p40, and IL-23 complex activated phosphorylation of tyrosine and serine residues in JAK2, STAT1, TYK2, and SOCS1 in chicken cell lines. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Dataset on characterization of recombinant interleukin-23α, IL-12p40 and IL-23 complex protein, which activates JAK-STAT signaling pathway in chicken cell lines using immunocytochemical staining. File Name: Web Page, url: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340917307035 Data in Brief article providing the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the chicken IL-23α coding region. The data provide information about the effect of chicken IL-23α, IL-12p40, and IL-23 complex protein on cell proliferation and production of reactive oxygen species in the form of NO in both cell lines.