Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor: stimulating granulopoiesis and much more.

The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (G-CSFR) plays an important role in the production, survival and activation of neutrophilic granulocytes during both normal and emergency hematopoiesis. The G-CSFR also participates in the development of other myeloid lineages, the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells and myeloid cell migration. This has lead to several important clinical applications for its ligand, G-CSF. More recently, additional important roles for G-CSFR have emerged outside the hematopoietic system, such as in the protection and repair of a diverse range of tissues, including muscle, liver and neural tissue, providing further scope for developing G-CSF as a therapeutic agent. The G-CSFR has also been implicated in the etiology of disease, with mutations/variants of G-CSFR implicated in neutropenia, myelodysplasia and leukemia. Additionally, autocrine/paracrine stimulation of G-CSFR may be important in the biology of solid tumors, including metastasis.