title: GM-CSF and the role of myeloid regulatory cells in the pathogenesis and treatment of Crohn's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intestinal monocytes/macrophages sustain the intestinal immune homeostasis and might be an attractive therapeutic target for the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) exerts beneficial effects on intestinal inflammation and promotes signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)-mediated expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). However, the full action mechanism of GM-CSF, and especially whether monocytes mediate its therapeutic effects in vivo, had not been previously elucidated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review article summarizes recent developments in the immunology of mucosal diseases and describes new aspects of the role of myeloid regulatory cells in IBD and the function of GM-CSF in maintaining the intestinal immune homeostasis in Crohn's disease (CD). This review article highlights the exploration of stimulating in addition to suppressive therapies for patients with IBD and underpins that myeloid regulatory cells might become a promising novel cell-based therapeutic option.
authors.affiliation: Present address: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Rostock, Ernst-Heydemann-Str. 8, 18057, Rostock, Germany. jan.daebritz@med.uni-rostock.de.|Department of Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149, Münster, Germany. jan.daebritz@med.uni-rostock.de.|Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia. jan.daebritz@med.uni-rostock.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Däbritz