BACKGROUND
Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a member of the IL-6 family of cytokines, which signal through gp130 receptor complexes. gp130 complexes with several different receptor subunits, to transmit signals from CT-1, IL-6, LIF, OSM, CNTF, and IL-11. CT-1 binds to and activates the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) receptor/gp130 receptor complex. CT-1 was shown to induce hypertrophy in cardiac myocytes in vitro. CT-1 is a secreted protein expressed at high levels in myocardium during cardiogenesis, and it was shown to promote proliferation and survival of embryonic cardiomyocytes, suggesting a role for CT-1 in the activation of gp130 during cardiac developmen. CT-1 is highly expressed in heart, prostate, ovary and skeletal muscle. Lower levels of expression are seen in lung, kidney, pancreas, thymus, testis and small intestine.