An Uncommon Tail about the Common γ-Chain Stephen C. Jameson, Kristin R. Renkema  Immunity  Volume 40, Issue 6, Pages 859-860 (June 2014) DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2014.05.008 Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Telling Tails In resting T cells (left), γc is produced as a membrane bound form (mγc) that joins with cytokine-specific receptor chains to mediate cytokine binding and receptor signaling though activation of JAK kinases that are associated with the cytoplasmic tails of the receptors (indicated by circles). In activated T cells, however, alternative splicing also generates sγc, a secreted form of γc (right). sγc lacks the transmembrane and cytoplasmic tail and includes a novel C terminus (purple), which includes a cysteine that is probably involved in sγc dimer formation. sγc is thought to act as a competitive antagonist for mγc binding to cytokine-specific receptor chains, thereby blocking cytokine receptor signaling. Some γc cytokine receptors include a third receptor chain (not shown). Immunity 2014 40, 859-860DOI: (10.1016/j.immuni.2014.05.008) Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions