Description
Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (M-CSF), also known as Colony Stimulating Factor-1 (CSF-1), is a hematopoietic growth factor. It can stimulate the survival, proliferation and differentiation of mononuclear phagocytes, in addition to the spreading and motility of macrophages. In mammals, it exits three isoforms, which invariably share an N-terminal 32-aa signal peptide, a 149-residue growth factor domain, a 21-residue transmembrane region and a 37-aa cytoplasmictail. M-CSF is mainly produced by monocytes, macrophages, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. M-CSF interaction with its receptor, c-fms, has been implicated in the growth, invasion, and metastasis of of several diseases, including breast and endometrial cancers. The biological activity of human M-CSF is maintained within the 149-aa growth factor domain, and it is only active in the disulfide-linked dimeric form, which is bonded at Cys63.