The Human Hematopoietic Colony-Stimulating Factors

The complementary DNAs and genes encoding the four major human myeloid growth factors--granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, macrophage colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin-3--have all been molecularly cloned. These DNA clones have proved valuable for studying the molecular biology of these important regulatory molecules as well as for the large-scale production of the recombinant growth factor proteins. These advances have led to a much better understanding of the role of the myeloid growth factors in regulating hematopoiesis in vivo that should soon find practical application in clinical medicine.