Leukemia inhibitory factor receptor subunit alpha (LIFR)

Leukemia inhibitory factor receptor subunit alpha (LIFR, CD118) is a single-pass membrane protein that acts as a component of the receptor complex for leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and other IL-6 family cytokines. Upon cytokine ligand binding, LIFR associates with gp130 to form a high-affinity signaling complex, which activates intracellular pathways including JAK/STAT, MAPK, and PI3K, thereby regulating critical biological processes such as cell differentiation, survival, and proliferation in contexts ranging from embryonic development to immune and nervous system function. LIFR is also notable as a metastasis suppressor in cancer and as a disease gene in bone and nervous system dysplasias resulting from loss-of-function mutations

Other names

Leukemia inhibitory factor receptorLIFRCD118LIF receptorLIF-RCD118 antigenleukemia inhibitory factor receptor alphaLIF receptor alphaleukemia inhibitory factor receptor precursorSJS2STWSSWS

Cytokine binding induces receptor dimerization (LIFR + gp130), activating JAK tyrosine kinases (JAK1, JAK2, TYK2), which in turn activate the JAK/STAT, MAPK, and PI3K pathways to regulate target gene transcription