Macrophage lineage cells in inflammation: characterization by colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) receptor (c-Fms), ER-MP58, and ER-MP20 (Ly-6C) expression.

Macrophage populations resident in tissues and at sites of inflammation are heterogeneous and with local proliferation sometimes evident. Using the convenient murine peritoneal cavity as an inflammation model, the appearance of macrophage lineage cells was followed with time in both thioglycollate- and sodium periodate-induced exudates. The cells were characterized by their proliferative response in vitro in response to colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) (or macrophage colony-stimulating factor [M-CSF]), particularly by their ability to form colonies in agar, in combination with flow cytometry (surface marker expression and forward and side scatter characteristics). We propose that c-Fms (CSF-1 receptor), unlike other markers, is a uniformly expressed and specific marker suitable for the detection of macrophage-lineage cells in tissues, both in the steady state and after the initiation of an inflammatory reaction. It was shown that the bone marrow myeloid precursor markers, ER-MP58 and ER-MP20 (Ly-6C), but not ER-MP12 (PECAM-1), are expressed by a high proportion of macrophage-lineage cells in the inflamed peritoneum. The macrophage colony-forming cells (M-CFCs) in a 16-hour thioglycollate-induced exudate were phenotyped as c-Fms+ERMP12-20+58+, properties consistent with their being more mature than bone marrow M-CFCs. It is proposed that ER-MP58, as well as ER-MP20, may be a useful marker for distinguishing inflammatory macrophage-lineage cells from the majority of those residing normally in tissues.