title: GM-CSF: An immune modulatory cytokine that can suppress autoimmunity.
abstract: GM-CSF was originally identified as a colony stimulating factor (CSF) because of its ability to induce granulocyte and macrophage populations from precursor cells. Multiple studies have demonstrated that GM-CSF is also an immune-modulatory cytokine, capable of affecting not only the phenotype of myeloid lineage cells, but also T-cell activation through various myeloid intermediaries. This property has been implicated in the sustenance of several autoimmune diseases like arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In contrast, several studies using animal models have shown that GM-CSF is also capable of suppressing many autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, Type-1 diabetes, Myasthenia gravis and experimental autoimmune thyroiditis. Knockout mouse studies have suggested that the role of GM-CSF in maintaining granulocyte and macrophage populations in the physiological steady state is largely redundant. Instead, its immune-modulatory role plays a significant role in the development or resolution of autoimmune diseases. This is mediated either through the differentiation of precursor cells into specialized non-steady state granulocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells, or through the modulation of the phenotype of mature myeloid cells. Thus, outside of myelopoiesis, GM-CSF has a profound role in regulating the immune response and maintaining immunological tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Palash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Muthusamy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thiruppathi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Hatem A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Elshabrawy
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alharshawi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Prabhakaran
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Electronic address: bprabhak@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Bellur S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Prabhakar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000276:immunology*; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
keywords: Autoimmunity; GM-CSF; Immune modulation; Regulatory T cells; Tolerance