# IL-11 receptor alpha

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/il11ra/  
OnCo record `il11ra` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The IL-11 receptor was the target of oprelvekin, the first drug approved to prevent the severe platelet falls that chemotherapy causes; the drug was withdrawn in 2011 and thrombopoietin agonists took over the problem.

## Summary

Interleukin-11 receptor subunit alpha pairs with gp130 to carry the signal of interleukin-11, a cytokine that drives megakaryocytes to mature and release platelets. Recombinant IL-11 (oprelvekin, Neumega) was approved in the United States in 1997 to prevent severe thrombocytopenia after myelosuppressive chemotherapy, but fluid retention and cardiac side effects limited its use and it was withdrawn from the market in 2011. IL-11 signalling is now studied as a driver of fibrosis and of tumour-supporting inflammation in stomach and bowel cancers.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-04
- Tags: chembl-gap
- Symbol: IL11RA
- Class: surface-antigen
- Biology: A cytokine receptor of the IL-6 family; ligand binding recruits gp130 and activates JAK-STAT3 signalling in megakaryocytes, epithelial cells and fibroblasts.
- Where found: Megakaryocytes and bone marrow stroma; Gastric and colorectal tumour epithelium and fibroblasts

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interleukin_11_receptor_subunit_alpha
- UniProt Q14626: IL11RA: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q14626/entry
- HGNC:5967 IL11RA: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:5967
- ChEMBL target CHEMBL2050: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/explore/target/CHEMBL2050

## Connected records

- targets: [JAK2](https://onco.cc/targets/jak2/)
- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/)
- terms: [Thrombocytopenia](https://onco.cc/terms/thrombocytopenia/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/il11ra.json