Description
Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a member of Interleukin 6 family. This protein is mainly expressed in the trophectoderm of the developing embryo, with its receptor LIFR expressed throughout the inner cell mass. Mature human LIF shares 78%, 82%, 91%, 88 and 87% aa sequence identity with mouse, rat, canine, bovine, and porcine LIF, respectively. LIF is multifunctional cytokines with many similar activities. LIF is structurally and functionally related to another cytokine, Oncostatin M (OSM), that binds to the high-affinity LIF receptor but not to the low-affinity LIF receptor. While some of the actions of LIF on neurons resemble those of CNTF, LIF also has broad actions outside of the nervous system that in many cases mimic those of interleukin-6 (IL-6).