Role of the JAK/STAT Signal Transduction Pathway in the Regulation of Gene Expression in CNS

Over the last 20 years the JAK/STAT signal transduction pathway has been extensively studied.An enormous amount of data on different cell signal transduction pathways is now available.The JAK/STAT signal transduction pathway is one of the intracellular signaling pathways activatedby cytokines and growth factors that was first studied in the hematopoietic system, butrecent data demonstrate that this signal transduction is also greatly utilized by other systems.The JAK/STAT pathway is a signaling cascade that links the activation of specific cell membranereceptors to nuclear gene expression. This review is focused on the role of JAK/STATsignal transduction pathway activation in the central nervous system (CNS).