Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (CSF2R) (CSF2R)

The Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (CSF2R) is a type I cytokine receptor primarily expressed on myeloid cells, including dendritic cells, macrophages, and neutrophils (UniProt, 2024). It consists of a ligand-specific alpha subunit (CSF2RA/CD116) and a common beta subunit (CSF2RB/CD131) shared with IL-3 and IL-5 receptors (Hamilton, 2020). Binding of the ligand GM-CSF triggers the JAK2-STAT5 signaling pathway, which is essential for the survival, differentiation, and functional activation of myeloid progenitors and mature cells (PubMed, 2023). In autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, CSF2R signaling drives the inflammatory activity of macrophages and dendritic cells, making it a significant therapeutic target (Burmester et al., 2017). Conversely, loss-of-function mutations or autoantibodies against the ligand lead to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) due to the failure of alveolar macrophages to clear surfactant (Trapnell et al., 2003). Therapeutic agents such as mavrilimumab target the CSF2RA subunit to inhibit these pro-inflammatory pathways in chronic inflammatory diseases (DrugBank, 2024). The receptor's role in myeloid cell polarization also makes it a focus in oncology, where it can influence the tumor microenvironment (NCBI, 2022). Monitoring receptor expression and downstream signaling molecules like phosphorylated STAT5 serves as a method for assessing therapeutic efficacy (PubMed, 2021).

Other names

GM-CSF receptorCD116CSF2RACD131CSF2RBColony stimulating factor 2 receptor

Competitive inhibition of ligand binding by monoclonal antibodies (antagonism) or activation of the receptor by recombinant ligands (agonism).