An antibody against the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor depletes the resident subset of monocytes and tissue- and tumor-associated macrophages but does not inhibit inflammation.

The development of the mononuclear phagocyte system requires macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) signaling through the CSF-1 receptor (CSF1R, CD115). We examined the effect of an antibody against CSF1R on macrophage homeostasis and function using the MacGreen transgenic mouse (csf1r-enhanced green fluorescent protein) as a reporter. The administration of a novel CSF1R blocking antibody selectively reduced the CD115(+)Gr-1(neg) monocyte precursor of resident tissue macrophages. CD115(+)Gr-1(+) inflammatory monocytes were correspondingly increased, supporting the view that monocytes are a developmental series. Within tissue, the antibody almost completely depleted resident macrophage populations in the peritoneum, gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney, and skin, but not in the lung or female reproductive organs. CSF1R blockade reduced the numbers of tumor-associated macrophages in syngeneic tumor models, suggesting that these cells are resident type macrophages. Conversely, it had no effect on inflammatory monocyte recruitment in models, including lipopolysaccharide-induced lung inflammation, wound healing, peritonitis, and severe acute graft-versus-host disease. Depletion of resident tissue macrophages from bone marrow transplantation recipients actually resulted in accelerated pathology and exaggerated donor T-cell activation. The data indicate that CSF1R signaling is required only for the maturation and replacement of resident-type monocytes and tissue macrophages, and is not required for monocyte production or inflammatory function.

Mouse neutrophilic granulocytes express mRNA encoding the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (CSF-1R) as well as many other macrophage-specific transcripts and can transdifferentiate into macrophages in vitro in response to CSF-1.

The differentiation of macrophages from their progenitors is controlled by macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1), which binds to a receptor (CSF-1R) encoded by the c-fms proto-oncogene. We have previously used the promoter region of the CSF-1R gene to direct expression of an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene to resident macrophage populations in transgenic mice. In this paper, we show that the EGFP reporter is also expressed in all granulocytes detected with the Gr-1 antibody, which binds to Ly-6C and Ly-6G or with a Ly-6G-specific antibody. Transgene expression reflects the presence of CSF-1R mRNA but not CSF-1R protein. The same pattern is observed with the macrophage-specific F4/80 marker. Based on these findings, we performed a comparative array profiling of highly purified granulocytes and macrophages. The patterns of mRNA expression differed predominantly through granulocyte-specific expression of a small subset of transcription factors (Egr1, HoxB7, STAT3), known abundant granulocyte proteins (e.g., S100A8, S100A9, neutrophil elastase), and specific receptors (fMLP, G-CSF). These findings suggested that appropriate stimuli might mediate rapid interconversion of the major myeloid cell types, for example, in inflammation. In keeping with this hypothesis, we showed that purified Ly-6G-positive granulocytes express CSF-1R after overnight culture and can subsequently differentiate to form F4/80-positive macrophages in response to CSF-1.

The JNK are important for development and survival of macrophages.

We report in this study that activation of the JNK by the growth factor, CSF-1 is critical for macrophage development, proliferation, and survival. Inhibition of JNK with two distinct classes of inhibitors, the pharmacological agent SP600125, or the peptide D-JNKI1 resulted in cell cycle inhibition with an arrest at the G(2)/M transition and subsequent apoptosis. JNK inhibition resulted in decreased expression of CSF-1R (c-fms) and Bcl-x(L) mRNA in mature macrophages and repressed CSF-1-dependent differentiation of bone marrow cells to macrophages. Macrophage sensitivity to JNK inhibitors may be linked to phosphorylation of the PU.1 transcription factor. Inhibition of JNK disrupted PU.1 binding to an element in the c-fms gene promoter and decreased promoter activity. Promoter activity could be restored by overexpression of PU.1. A comparison of expression profiles of macrophages with 22 other tissue types showed that genes that signal JNK activation downstream of tyrosine kinase receptors, such as focal adhesion kinase, Nck-interacting kinase, and Rac1 and scaffold proteins are highly expressed in macrophages relative to other tissues. This pattern of expression may underlie the novel role of JNK in macrophages.

The Runx1 transcription factor controls CSF-1-dependent and -independent growth and survival of macrophages.

Gene translocations that repress the function of the Runx1 transcription factor play a critical role in the development of myeloid leukemia. In this report, we demonstrate that Runx1 precisely regulates c-fms (CSF-1 receptor) gene expression. Runx1 controlled expression by binding to multiple sites within the mouse c-fms gene, allowing interaction between promoter and downstream enhancer elements. The runx1 and c-fms genes showed an identical pattern of expression in mature macrophages. Runx1 expression was repressed in CSF-1 stimulated, proliferating bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) and significantly increased in quiescent, CSF-1 starved cells. The RAW264.7 and Mono-Mac-6, macrophage-like cell lines expressed low levels of Runx1 and both showed growth arrest and cell death with ectopic expression of Runx1. The EM-3 cell line, which represents an early myeloid progenitor cell line, showed growth arrest with Runx1 expression in the absence of any detectable changes in cell differentiation. These findings suggest that Runx1 regulates growth and survival of myeloid cells and provide a novel insight into the role of Runx family gene translocations in leukemogenesis.