Description
CD131- the common β Subunit, is a member of the type 1 cytokine receptor family.
There are three major classes of heteroreceptor com plexes, where the receptor complex utilises a common shared receptor subunit as a signal-transducing chain along with a cytokine specific subunit.
These three classes include those which use gp130, those which use γc and those which use the common β subunit, βc(CD131).
CD131 is shared by three of the “four-helical bundle” family of cytokines; IL-3, IL-5 and GM-CSF, and forms a receptor complex along with a cytokine specific α chain for each of these cytokines.Moreover, even though each of these cytokines have their own specific α subunit, the co-utilisation of CD131 suggests a common intra-cellular process of both unique and/or overlapping activities on expressing cells