Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN
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J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. · Feb 2002
The requirement for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in leukocyte-mediated immune glomerular injury.
Proliferative glomerulonephritis in humans is characterized by the presence of leukocytes in glomeruli. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) can potentially stimulate or affect T cell, macrophage, and neutrophil function. To define the roles of GM-CSF and G-CSF in leukocyte-mediated glomerulonephritis, glomerular injury was studied in mice genetically deficient in either GM-CSF (GM-CSF -/- mice) or G-CSF (G-CSF -/- mice). ⋯ However, only GM-CSF -/- mice were protected from crescentic glomerular injury in the autologous phase, whereas G-CSF -/- mice were not protected and in fact had increased numbers of T cells in glomeruli. Humoral responses to the nephritogenic antigen were unaltered by deficiency of either GM-CSF or G-CSF, but glomerular T cell and macrophage numbers, as well as dermal delayed-type hypersensitivity to the nephritogenic antigen, were reduced in GM-CSF -/- mice. These studies demonstrate that endogenous GM-CSF plays a role in experimental glomerulonephritis in both the autologous and heterologous phases of injury.