Lack of effect of granulocyte-macrophage and granulocyte colony-stimulating factors on cultured human endothelial cells

Abstract

The hematopoietic growth factors, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), enhance the effector functions of mature myeloid cells, including the interaction with vascular endothelium. We examined the direct effect of recombinant human GM-CSF (rhGM-CSF) and recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) on the growth and function of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Endothelial cell growth supplement (ECGS) increased the proliferation of passaged and primary cells by 305% ± 45% (mean ± SEM, n = 5, P < .0005). In four experiments, endothelial cells showed no specific binding of 125I-GM-CSF, whereas peripheral blood (PB) neutrophils demonstrated the presence of 802 ± 78 high-affinity receptors for GM-CSF. Thus, we found no effect of rhGM-CSF or rhG-CSF on the proliferation of HUVEC or the expression of procoagulant and fibrinolytic activities by these cells. These findings are in accordance with the lack of demonstrable receptors for GM-CSF on cultured HUVEC. © 1997 by The American Society of Hematology.