JAK3 Janus kinase is involved in interleukin 7 signal pathway.

Interleukin (IL) 7 is an important cytokine regulating both T and B cell development and inducing the formation of lymphokine-activated killer cells and cytolytic T lymphocytes. This study reports the role of JAK family kinases in the IL-7 signalling pathway in a T cell clone. The results have shown that out of 4 members of JAK family tyrosine kinases (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and Tyk2), only JAK3 was tyrosine-phosphorylated and activated in cells of a T cell clone by stimulation with IL-7. Furthermore, STAT1 alpha (STAT, the signal transducers and activators of transcription) and p44 of MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinases) were tyrosine phosphorylated by IL-7 stimulation, indicating that the two signal pathways might be involved in IL-7 signal transduction.