Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a member of the cytokine family which also includes IL-6, IL-11, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). It was originally isolated based on its ability to induce cardiac myocyte hypertrophy in vitro. CT-1 has since been shown to be a pleiotrophic cytokine with overlapping actions with other IL-6 family members on a variety of cell types. Human CT-1 encodes a 201 aa residue protein that lacks a hydrophobic signal peptide. The mechanism of CT-1 release from cells is currently not understood. Human and mouse CT-1 share 80% aa sequence identity and exhibit cross-species activity. CT-1 is highly expressed in heart, skeletal muscle, liver, lung and kidney. Lower levels of CT-1 expression is also seen in testis and brain. CT-1 initiates downstream signaling pathways through the heterodimerization of gp130 and the LIF receptor beta subunit.