The human gene coding for the interleukin-11 receptor (IL11RA) was cloned and its structure analyzed. The gene is composed of 13 exons comprising nearly 10 kb of DNA that was completely sequenced. The intron-exon boundaries were determined based on the mouse Etl2 and interleukin-11 receptor cDNAs that were recently cloned. The protein sequence predicted by the human gene was over 83% identical with its murine counterpart, with very strict conservation of functionally important domains and signatures. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed the gene to be located on human chromosome 9p13, syntenic with the mouse etl2 gene on chromosome 4. The coding exons of the Interleukin-11 gene were sequenced in a patient with the cartilage-hair hypoplasia syndrome, which has been linked to a gene on chromosome 9, but no functional mutations were detected.