A comparative study on the changes of macrophages stimulated by IL-3 and GM-CSF and their role in Mycobacterium marinum infection
ZHANG Xiaodong
LIU Weida
Abstract：Objective To investigate the stimulating effect of cytokine Interleukin(IL)-3 on macrophage fusion and its impact on phagocytosis and bactericidal activity against Mycobacterium marinum,compared with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor(GM-CSF).Methods Macrophage fusion capacities stimulated by IL-3 or GM-CSF,with or without interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-4(IL-4),were compared.Expression of fusion-related factors mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Phagocytic activity was evaluated using acid-fast staining,while bactericidal capacity was assessed by culturing M.marinum and colony-forming unit(CFU)counting..Results IL-3 promoted macrophage fusion,combined with IL-4 or IFN-γ enhancing fusion rates similarly to GM-CSF.IL-3 primarily upregulated mRNA expression of P2RX7 and MMP-9,whereas GM-CSF induced DAP12 and DC-STAMP,which may suggest distinct mechanisms in fusion factor regulation.Both cytokines enhanced phagocytic and bactericidal activities,but IL-3-treated cells showed significantly lower CFU counts than GM-CSF-treated cells on day 10.The combination of IL-3 and IFN-γ further reduced CFU counts than IL-3 monotherapy on day 10(P<0.05).Conclusion IL-3 has GM-CSF-comparable potential in promoting macrophage fusion and exhibits phagocytic/bactericidal effects against M.marinum.The bactericidal activity of IL-3 even more persistently,suggesting that it maybe a new focus for mycobacterial infection research.
Keywords：Interleukin-3Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factorMultinucleated Giant CellsAtypical mycobacteriumMycobacterium marinum
Publication Date：2025-04-10
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 96-102 )