The role of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor signaling in skeletal muscle growth, injury and disease

Cytokines are an incredibly diverse group of secreted proteins with equally diverse functions. The actions of cytokines are mediated by the unique and sometimes overlapping receptors to which the soluble ligands bind. Classified within the interleukin-6 family of cytokines are leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin-M (OSM), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). These cytokines all bind to the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) and gp130, and in some cases an additional receptor subunit, leading to activation of downstream kinases and transcriptional activators. LIFR is expressed on a broad range of cell types and can generate pleiotropic effects. In the context of skeletal muscle physiology, these cytokines have been shown to exert effects on motor neurons, inflammatory and muscle cells. From isolated cells through to whole organisms, manipulations of LIFR signaling cytokines have a wide range of outcomes influencing muscle cell growth, myogenic differentiation, response to exercise, metabolism, neural innervation and recruitment of inflammatory cells to sites of muscle injury. This article will discuss the shared and distinct processes that LIFR cytokines regulate in a variety of experimental models with the common theme of skeletal muscle physiology.