Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Stimulates Human Mature Neutrophilic Granulocytes to Produce Interferon-α

• Published in: Blood 1990-01, Vol.75 (1), p.17-19
• Main Authors: Shirafuji, N., Matsuda, S., Ogura, H., Tani, K., Kodo, H., Ozawa, K., Nagata, S., Asano, S., Takaku, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; Colony-Stimulating Factors - pharmacology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; Humans; Immunobiology; In Vitro Techniques; Interferon Type I - biosynthesis; Miscellaneous; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine - pharmacology; Neutrophils - metabolism; Recombinant Proteins; Regulatory factors and their cellular receptors; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Time Factors; Transcription, Genetic - drug effects
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V75.1.17.17

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a glycoprotein hormone that specifically stimulates both production and functional activation of neutrophils, while interferon-α (IFN-α) is known to suppress myelopoiesis, including neutrophil production in vivo and in vitro. On a possibility that IFN-α may operate as one of the inhibitory feedback factors in neutropoiesis, we examined whether neutrophils produce IFN-α in response to G-CSF. Northern blot analysis showed that messenger RNA (mRNA) for human IFN-α 1 became detectable time-dependently in highly purified human neutrophils incubated with purified recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF). But such transcription was not observed either in neutrophils incubated with other neutrophil activators, such as formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) or lipopolysaccharides (LPS), or in blood mononuclear cells incubated with rhG-CSF. In addition, radioimmunoassay for human IFN-α showed that its levels in culture medium of the rhG-CSF-treated neutrophils rose markedly (up to approximately 100 IU/mL/1 × 107 cells) in a time-dependent way, compared with those of nonstimulated neutrophils. These findings suggest that the G-CSF/IFN-α system may participate in the feedback regulatory loop of neutropoiesis.