Regulation of M-CSF production by cultured human thymic epithelial cells

Abstract

We have studied the regulation of M-CSF production by human thymic epithelial cells (TEC) in a continuing effort to better understand the contribution of TEC to the intrathymic cytokine network. The levels of M-CSF were measured by radioimmunoassay. Five different TEC cultures were studied and we found that all cells examined produced M-CSF constitutively. We also studied the effects of cytokines on the regulation of the M-CSF secretion profile. IL-1, which strongly induces the secretion of a number of cytokines in TEC, was found to up-regulate M-CSF levels. The effects of IL-1 were dose and time dependent suggesting a direct effect on TEC. IFN-γ is known to up- regulate cell surface antigen..