There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Although they were originally defined as haematopoietic-cell growth factors, colony-stimulating
factors (CSFs) have been shown to have additional functions by acting directly on
mature myeloid cells. Recent data from animal models indicate that the depletion of
CSFs has therapeutic benefit in many inflammatory and/or autoimmune conditions and
as a result, early-phase clinical trials targeting granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating
factor and macrophage colony-stimulating factor have now commenced. The distinct biological
features of CSFs offer opportunities for specific targeting, but with some associated
risks. Here, I describe these biological features, discuss the probable specific outcomes
of targeting CSFs in vivo and highlight outstanding questions that need to be addressed.