interleukin-7 receptor interleukin-7 receptor the interleukin-7 receptor is a protein found on the surface of cells. it is made up of two different smaller protein chains - i.e. it is a heterodimer, and consists of two subunits, interleukin-7 receptor-α (cd127) and common-γ chain receptor (cd132). the common-γ chain receptors is shared with various cytokines, including interleukin-2, -4, -9, and -15. interleukin-7 receptor is expressed on various cell types, including naive and memory t cells and many others. il-7 receptor and signaling, common γ chain (blue) and il-7 receptor-α (green) interleukin-7 receptor-αidentifierssymbolil7ralt. symbolscd127ncbi gene3575hgnc6024omim146661refseqnm_002185uniprotp16871other datalocuschr. 5 p13search forstructuresswiss-modeldomainsinterpro interleukin 2 receptor, gammaidentifierssymbolil2rgalt. symbolsscidx1, imd4, cd132ncbi gene3561hgnc6010omim308380refseqnm_000206uniprotp31785other datalocuschr. x q13search forstructuresswiss-modeldomainsinterpro function interleukin-7 receptor has been shown to play a critical role in the development of immune cells called lymphocytes - specifically in a process known as v(d)j recombination. this protein is also found to control the accessibility of a region of the genome that contains the t-cell receptor gamma gene, by stat5 and histone acetylation . knockout studies in mice suggest that blocking apoptosis is an essential function of this protein during differentiation and activation of t lymphocytes. functional defects in this protein may be associated with the pathogenesis of severe combined immunodeficiency (scid). diseases several diseases are associated with interleukin-7 receptor including t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.