Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and its receptor.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a glycoprotein of Mr of about 20,000, which stimulates proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells of neutrophils. Recent clinical application of G-CSF has proven that this hormone is effective in treatment of patients suffering from neutropenia. In the last few years, the biochemical and molecular nature of the G-CSF receptor has been characterized. The G-CSF receptor is a glycoprotein of Mr 100-130,000, and is expressed on the cell surface of various myeloid cells. A homodimer of this polypeptide can bind G-CSF with a high affinity, and transduce G-CSF-triggered growth signals into cells. Its extracellular domain contains a sequence of about 200 amino acids which can be found in various cytokine receptors. In addition, it contains an immunoglobulin-like domain and three fibronectin type III domains. The overall structure of the beta-chain (gp130) of the interleukin 6 receptor was found to be very similar to that of the G-CSF receptor.