| Scientific Background: | The cytokine Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) controls the production, differentiation, and function of granulocytes and macrophages. The active form of GM-CSF functions extracellularly as a homodimer. Localized to a cluster of related genes at chromosome region 5q31 , data links this gene to interstitial deletions in the 5q- syndrome and acute myelogenous leukemia. Other genes in the cluster include those encoding interleukins 4, 5, and 13. GM-CSF stimulates the growth and differentiation of hematopoietic precursor cells from various lineages, including granulocytes, macrophages, eosinophils and erythrocytes. |
