It is a cardiac hypertrophic factor of 21.5 kDa and a protein member of the IL-6 cytokine family.
The protein exerts its cellular effects by interacting with the glycoprotein 130 (gp130)/leukemia inhibitory factor receptor beta (LIFR) heterodimer.
In addition, CT-1 activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3 kinase) in cardiac myocytes and enhances transcription factor NF-κB DNA -binding activities.
CT-1 is highly expressed in the heart, skeletal muscle, prostate and ovary and to lower levels in lung, kidney, pancreas, thymus, testis and small intestine.
This article on a gene on human chromosome 16 is a stub.