Cytokines are regulatory molecules that coordinate immune responses. The most typical cytokine receptor is a protein that forms a stable association with a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase known as a Janus Kinase, or JAK, for short. The Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway are one of a handful of pleiotropic cascades used to transduce a multitude of signals for development and homeostasis in animals. This type of signaling is a direct and rapid way to turn on a set of genes. JAK activation stimulates cell proliferation, differentiation, cell migration and apoptosis. These cellular events are critical to hematopoiesis, immune development, mammary gland development and lactation, adipogenesis, sexually dimorphic growth and other processes.

Janus kinases (JAKs) represent a discovered family of protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), which is non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases of approximately 130 kDa, comprising of JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2 (non-receptor Protein Tyrosine Kinase-2). They appear to be associated with the cytoplasmic domain of many cytokine receptors but remain catalytically inactive until binding of the cytokine to the receptor.

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