Oncostatin M (OSM) mediates its bioactivities through two different heterodimer receptors. They both involve the gp130-transducing receptor, which dimerizes with either leukemia inhibitory receptor  or with OSM receptor  (OSMR) to generate, respectively, type I and type II OSM receptors. Co-precipitation of gp130-associated proteins, flow cytometry, polymerase chain reaction, and tyrosine phosphorylation analyses allowed the characterization of both types of OSM receptors expressed on the surface of different cell lines. It also allowed the detection of a large size protein, p250, that specifically associates to the type II OSM receptor components and that is tyrosine-phosphorylated after the activation peak of the gp130⅐OSMR heterocomplex. The restricted expression of type I OSM receptor by the JAR choriocarcinoma cell line, and type II receptor by the A375 melanoma cell line, permitted the characterization of their signaling machineries. Both type I and type II OSM receptors activated Jak1, Jak2, and Tyk2 receptor-associated tyrosine kinases. The information is next relayed to the nucleus by the STAT3 transcriptional activator, which is recruited by both types of OSM receptors. In addition, STAT5b was specifically activated through the gp130⅐OSMR type II heterocomplex.The signaling pathway differences observed between the common type I LIF/OSM receptor and the specific type II OSM receptor might explain some of the bioactivities specifically displayed by OSM.Oncostatin M (OSM) 1 is a multifunctional cytokine belonging to the interleukin-6 (IL-6) family and that shares many properties with those reported for LIF (1). Both OSM and LIF are able to inhibit the spontaneous differentiation of embryonic stem cells (2). They also induce the terminal differentiation of the M1 murine myeloid cell line (3). Like the other IL-6 family members, OSM has been shown to induce acute phase protein synthesis in hepatocytes (4). Beside these LIF-shared bioactivities, OSM displays some specific properties and can inhibit the growth of a variety of solid tumor cells (5) and triggers in vitro the proliferation of Kaposi's sarcoma-derived cell lines (6, 7). In addition, expression of an oncostatin M transgene in the early T cell lineage stimulates a dramatic accumulation of T cells in the mice lymph nodes (8).The redundancy of OSM and LIF biological properties is in part explained by the shared use of a common heterocomplex receptor composed of the gp130 signal transducing protein associated with the LIF receptor  (LIFR) component (9, 10). Binding experiments have pointed out the existence of a second and different high affinity receptor for OSM (also referred to as type II OSM receptor) (9 -11). Type II OSM receptor complex binds OSM in a specific manner and is not recognized by LIF (9 -11). Type II receptor also involves a gp130-transducing component that associates with a second receptor subunit very recently isolated as OSM receptor  (OSMR), which displays an apparent molecular mass of 180 kDa (12). Comparison of OSMR t...