The molecular biology of the CNTF receptor.

Recently there have been advances in studies of the molecular biology of the receptor for CNTF. In contrast with the receptors for other known neurotrophic factors, which belong to the family of receptor tyrosine kinases, the CNTF receptor belongs to the family of cytokine receptors. This review will describe the structural features and signaling capabilities of the CNTF receptor, and discuss the implications for the biology of CNTF as well as for other neurotrophic factors and cytokines.