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Neural activities of IL‐6‐type cytokines often depend on soluble cytokine receptors
Author(s) -
März Pia,
Otten Uwe,
RoseJohn Stefan
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1460-9568.1999.00755.x
Subject(s) - ciliary neurotrophic factor , receptor , common gamma chain , microbiology and biotechnology , cytokine receptor , biology , interleukin 21 receptor , cytokine , signal transduction , janus kinase 1 , ligand (biochemistry) , neuroscience , neurotrophic factors , chemistry , immunology , biochemistry , janus kinase
Cytokines of the interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) family participate in regulatory and inflammatory processes within the nervous system. IL‐6, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and IL‐11 act via specific membrane receptors which, together with their ligands, associate with signal‐transducing receptor subunits thereby initiating cytoplasmic signalling. Cells which only express signal‐transducing receptor subunits but no ligand binding subunits for IL‐6, CNTF and IL‐11 are refractory to these cytokines. An unusual feature of the IL‐6 cytokine family is that the soluble forms of the ligand binding receptor subunits generated by one cell type in complex with their ligands can directly stimulate the signal‐transducing receptor subunits on different cell types which lack ligand binding receptor subunits. This process has been named transsignalling. This article focuses on the importance of transsignalling events in neuronal differentiation and survival responses.