Cytokines and Growth Factor Receptors

Cytokine receptors are receptors that bind to cytokines. They may be both membrane-bound and soluble. Soluble cytokine receptors are extremely common regulators of cytokine function. Soluble cytokine receptors typically consist of the extracellular portions of membrane-bound receptors. In recent years, the cytokine receptors have come to demand the attention of more investigators than cytokines themselves, partly because of their remarkable characteristics, and partly because a deficiency of cytokine receptors has now been directly linked to certain debilitating immunodeficiency states.

Growth factor receptors are receptors that binds to a growth factors. A majority of growth factor receptors consists of receptor tyrosine kinases. There are 3 dominant receptor types that are exclusive to research : the epidermal growth factor receptor, the neurotrophin receptor, and the insulin receptors.All growth factor receptors are membrane bound and composed of 3 general protein domains: extracellular, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic.The extracellular domain region is where a ligand may bind, usually with very high specificity.