R.G. Goodwin, D. Friend, S.F. Ziegler, R. Jerzy, et al., "Cloning of the human and murine interleukin-7 receptors: Demonstration of a soluble form and homology to a new receptor superfamily," Cell, 60:941-51, 1990.
Raymond Goodwin (Immunex Corp., Seattle): "Interleukin-7 (IL-7) was cloned based on its ability to induce the proliferation of pre-B cells, and has subsequently been shown to have effects on immature and mature T cells. The cloning of the receptor for IL-7 allows for studies to identify additional IL-7-responsive cell types, as well as to study its mechanism of signal transduction. Many references to this paper result from the demonstration of significant homology in the extracellular domain of the IL-7 receptor with a rapidly growing family of cytokine receptors, including the receptors for IL-2 through IL-6. In addition, this paper describes the isolation of cDNAs encoding a soluble form of the human IL-7 receptor that retains the capacity ...
