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- ******************************
- * LIF / OSM family signature *
- ******************************
-
- On the basis of functional and structural similarities, the following small
- cytokines can be classified into a single family [1,2]:
-
- - Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) (also known as differentiation-stimulating
- factor). LIF is a mammalian growth factor that controls the differentiation
- and proliferation of hematopoietic cells as well as those of several
- other cellular lineages.
- - Oncostatin (OSM), a growth regulator produced by a number of mammalian
- cells lines. OSM is capable of inhibiting the replication of a number of
- tumor cells. It may play a role in the regulation and growth of
- hematopoietic cells.
-
- As a signature pattern for these cytokines, we selected a conserved region in
- their C-terminal section. This region is centered on a conserved cysteine
- which has been shown [3], in OSM, to be involved in a disulfide bond. The
- C-terminal part of this region is very hydrophobic and is known to be
- essential to the biological activity of OSM.
-
- -Consensus pattern: G-x(13)-[DE]-x-F-Q-[KR]-K-x(2)-G-C-x(2)-L-x(2)-Y-x(3)-
- [LIVM]-x(2)-[LIVM]-x(3)-F
- [C is involved in a disulfide bond]
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Note: it has been said [2] that LIF and OSM can be included in the IL-6
- family of cytokines (see the relevant entry), but while all these cytokines
- seem to be structurally related, the sequence similarity is not high enough
- to allow the use of a single consensus pattern.
-
- -Last update: June 1992 / Text revised.
-
- [ 1] Hilton D.J.
- Trends Biochem. Sci. 17:72-76(1992).
- [ 2] Rose T.M., Bruce A.G.
- Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88:8641-8645(1991).
- [ 3] Kallestad J.C., Shoyab M., Linsley P.S.
- J. Biol. Chem. 266:8940-8945(1991).
-