Cytokine receptors

Abstract

Cytokine receptors initiate intracellular signaling that regulate a diverse range of biological and medically important functions including metabolism control, neural stem cell activation, inflammatory responses, bone development, as well as blood cell and immune cell development and growth. The unifying feature of these receptors is their ability to activate the JAK-STAT pathway; however, they are grouped into two structurally related classes, known as class I and class II. Class I cytokine receptors have over 30 members including receptors for erythropoietin (EPO), prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH), thrombopoietin (TPO), leptin, (LEP), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-5, IL-6, and IL-7. The class II cytokine receptor family includes the interferon receptors, IL-10 receptor, and number of more recently discovered cytokine receptors for IL-19, IL-20, IL-22, IL-24, IL-26, and IL-29. This chapter will review the structure, activation mechanism, and signaling of cytokine receptors.