Stimulatory effects of purified macrophage colony-stimulating factor on murine resident peritoneal macrophages

A purified preparation of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) free of interferon and endotoxin activity was studied for its effects on resident murine peritoneal macrophages. M-CSF was found to induce profound morphologic alterations in resident macrophages. These changes included a marked increase in cell size, membrane ruffling, and cytoplasmic vacuolization. Further, after 72 hr of incubation with 1000 U/ml of M-CSF, there were significant increases in macrophage DNA synthesis as measured by autoradiography (P < 0.001), and in macrophage monolayer protein content (P < 0.01). None of these changes was seen in control macrophages or those exposed to recombinant interferon-γ (IFN). Low activity levels of the ectoenzymes 5′-nucleotidase (5′NTD) and alkaline phosphodiesterase I (APD) have been associated with certain macrophage functions, particularly the expression of tumor cytotoxicity. Macrophage monolayers exposed to M-CSF demonstrated an unaltered level of 5′NTD activity from controls and a significantly increased level of APD activity (P < 0.01) and did not demonstrate an increased ability to kill tumor cells, as measured by the ⁵¹Cr-release assay. On the other hand, IFN caused significant decreases in both 5′NTD (P < 0.05) and APD (P < 0.01) and also induced marked tumoricidal activity in macrophage monolayers. These results indicate that purified M-CSF induces highly specific alterations in the functional activity and morphologic appearance of resident macrophages and these changes are distinct from those induced by IFN.