Mouse LIF

Recombinant mouse LIF (leukemia inhibitory factor) is commonly used in cell culture to maintain the pluripotency of stem cells. LIF is a widely expressed pleiotropic member of the IL-6 family of cytokines. Mature mouse LIF is expressed as a highly and variably glycosylated 32-62 kDa monomer. LIF functions through a heterodimeric receptor complex containing a ligand-binding subunit, LIF R alpha /CD118, and a signal transducing subunit, gp130. LIF can also function as an autocrine growth factor in some pancreatic cancers, but it induces differentiation in the myeloid leukemic cell line M1 (1-5).