The membrane proximal region of the cytoplasmic domain of the growth hormone receptor is involved in the activation of Stat 3

Growth hormone receptor (GHR) signaling involves activation of the Janus Kinases (Jak) and of Stat proteins (signal transducers and activators of transcription). Growth hormone (GH) induces transcriptional activation of c- fos gene and the c-sis inducible element (SIE) of its promoter was shown to bind the Stat proteins. Using cells co-transfected with GHR and Stat 3 expression vectors, we directly demonstrate that GH induces tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat 3 and its binding to the SIE probe. We showed, using mutant forms of GHR, that only the cytoplasmic membrane proximal domain of the receptor, including a conserved proline rich region (box 1), is required for this effect.