The interleukin-6 cytokine family plays roles in a wide variety of tissues and organs,
including the immune hematopoietic and nervous systems. Gp130 is a signal-transducing
subunit shared by the receptors for the IL-6 family of cytokines. The binding of a ligand to its
receptor induces the dimerization of gp 130, leading to the activation of JAK tyrosine kinase
and tyrosine phosphorylation of gpl30. These events lead to the activation of multiple signal-
transduction pathways, such as the STAT, Ras-MAPK and PI-3 kinase pathways whose …