Growth hormone receptor; mechanism of action

The growth hormone receptor has been an archetype for ligand-induced receptor dimerisation in cytokine receptor signalling. However, we now know that it exists as a constitutive dimer and is activated by a reorganisation of receptor subunits as a result of asymmetric placement of two receptor binding sites on the hormone monomer. This review highlights several topics including: current models of receptor activation; recent advances in the understanding of GH signalling demonstrating that ligand-induced signalling activates Src/ERK pathway in parallel to the classical JAK2-STAT5 signalling; and the nuclear localised growth hormone receptor correlates with high proliferation status and carcinogenesis.