EXAMINATION OF SURVIVAL, PROLIFERATION AND CELL-SURFACE ANTIGEN EXPRESSION OF HUMAN MONOCYTES EXPOSED TO MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR (M-CSF)

The effects of macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (M‐CSF or CSF‐1) on the survival, proliferation, maturation and activation of human blood monocytes were examined. M‐CSF (100–1,000 U/ml) doubled the number of monocytes surviving after eight days in culture and accelerated the usual increase in cell volume. Antiserum to M‐CSF abolished both of these effects. There was no sizable increase in 3H‐thymidine incorporation in monocytes over this time period. Of various factors tested, including γ‐interferon (γ‐IFN), interleukin (IL) 1α, granulocyte CSF (G‐CSF), platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), only granulocyte‐macrophage CSF (GM‐CSF) could also enhance survival and augment cell volume. While antiserum to human M‐CSF eliminated the increase in survival induced by GM‐CSF, it could not ablate the GM‐CSF‐stimulated increase in monocyte cell volume. Monocyte cell surface markers that increase with maturation (i.e., FcγRIII) or with activation (i.e., FcγRI) were unaffected by incubation with M‐CSF. Copyright © 1990 AlphaMed Press