Cytokines and growth factors signal through tyrosine phosphorylation of a family of related transcription factors.

The ability of cytokines to activate distinct but overlapping sets of genes defines their characteristic biological response. We now show that IFN gamma, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, erythropoietin, EGF, and CSF-1 activate differing members of a family of latent cytoplasmic transcription factors. Although these factors have distinct physical and functional properties and exhibit different patterns of expression, they share many important features, including recognition of a related set of enhancer elements, rapid activation, tyrosine phosphorylation, and cross-reactivity to antibodies against p91, a cytoplasmic signaling protein activated by IFN alpha, IFN gamma, and IL-6. These shared features point to either parallel or common patterns of signal transduction. A general model of cytokine signal transduction is presented, in which receptor-associated tyrosine kinases activate ligand-specific members of a family of signal-transducing factors. Once activated, these factors carry their signals to the nucleus, where they bind a family of related enhancer elements.