1. An acidic glycoprotein of mw 23 kD with internal disulfide bonds.
It is produced in response to a number of inflammatory mediators by mesenchymal cells present in the haemopoietic environment and at peripheral sites of inflammation.
It stimulates the production of neutrophilic granulocytes, macrophages, and mixed granulocyte-macrophage colonies from bone marrow cells and can stimulate the formation of eosinophil colonies from foetal liver progenitor cells. It also has some functional activities in mature granulocytes and macrophages.
It is used to promote the recovery of the white blood cells following chemotherapy.
Chemical name: Colony-stimulating factor 2
See: colony-stimulating factor.
Acronym: GM-CSF
(12 Dec 1998)
