The haemopoietic growth factors interleukin 3 and colony stimulating factor-1 stimulate proliferation but do not induce inositol lipid breakdown in murine bone-marrow-derived macrophages.

The haemopoietic growth factors interleukin 3 (IL-3) and colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) stimulate the survival and proliferation of murine normal bone-marrow-derived macrophages. To establish whether these growth factors elicit their effects via the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] to form the second messengers inositol (1,4,5)trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] and diacylglycerol, macrophages were labelled with tracer quantities of [3H]inositol. Treatment of these cells with either IL-3 or CSF-1 did not alter the levels of PtdIns(4,5)P2 or Ins(1,4,5)P3. However, addition of the chemotactic peptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) which does not stimulate proliferation in macrophages caused a marked and rapid increase in the levels of Ins(1,4,5)P3, inositol bisphosphate and inositol monophosphate, and a decrease in the amount of PtdIns(4,5)P2. FMLP also evoked a rapid increase in intracellular cytosolic Ca2+ levels, as measured with quin 2 the Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent probe, whereas IL-3 and CSF-1 had no such effect. These results suggest that FMLP stimulates the hydrolysis of PtdIns(4,5)P2 to form the second messenger Ins(1,4,5)P3 which acts to increase the levels of cytosolic Ca2+, and that IL-3- and CSF-1-stimulated proliferation in macrophages is not associated with the formation of PtdIns(4,5)P2-derived second messengers.