The role of CD40/CD40 ligand interactions in bone marrow granulopoiesis

The CD40 ligand (CD40L) and CD40 are two molecules belonging to the TNF/TNF receptor superfamily, and their role in adaptive immune system has widely been explored. However, the wide range of expression of these molecules on hematopoietic as well as nonhematopoietic cells has revealed multiple functions of the CD40/CD40L interactions on different cell types and processes such as granulopoiesis. CD40 triggering on stromal cells has been documented to enhance the expression of granulopoiesis growth factors such as granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte/monocyte-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and upon disruption of the CD40/CD40L-signaling pathway, as in the case of X-linked hyperimmunoglobulin M (IgM) syndrome (XHIGM), it can lead to neutropenia. In chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN) of adults, however, under the influence of an inflammatory microenvironment, CD40L plays a role in granulocytic progenitor cell depletion, providing thus a pathogenetic cause of CIN.