The interferon-gamma receptor: a comparison with other cytokine receptors.

During the past few years, identification of cytokine receptors has become a major goal in cytokine research. A great deal has been learned from the plethora of receptor structures that have been elucidated recently. Although, evidently, the complexity of the cytokine network extends to the signaling pathways involved, some of these pathways have now become more accessible. The challenge in the coming years will be to fill the gap between the receptors and the gene regulatory events induced by the various cytokines. Another challenge lies in the potential use of cytokine receptors as targets for modulating cytokine action. Since the topic of interferon (IFN) receptors has been reviewed recently, this minireview will focus on the current knowledge on the IFN-gamma receptor in the context of recent advances on other cytokine receptors. Some new receptor models that may be of consequence for characterizing IFN receptors will be presented briefly.