FLT3: receptor and ligand. Biology and potential clinical application.

Flt3 ligand (FL) is a recently identified cytokine having a central role in the proliferation, survival and differentiation of early murine and human hematopoietic precursor/stem cells. FL acts synergistically in vitro with a number of other hematopoietic growth factors such as IL-3, IL-6, IL-11, IL-12, KIT Ligand and GM-CSF. Recently, it has been shown the in vivo administration of FL results in a significant alteration of hematopoiesis in murine bone marrow (BM), spleen, peripheral blood, liver and lymph nodes. In addition, treatment with FL resulted in a significant accumulation of functionally active dendritic cells within murine lymphoid tissues. The possible applications of FL in dendritic cell-based immunotherapies are discussed.