Binding of 125I-labeled granulocyte colony-stimulating factor to normal murine hemopoietic cells

The binding of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to murine bone marrow cells was investigated using a radioiodinated derivative of high specific radioactivity which retained full biological activity. The binding was time- and temperature-dependent, saturable and highly specific. The apparent dissociation constant for the reaction was 60-80 pM at 37 degrees C and 90-110 pM at 4 degrees C, similar to that found for the binding of G-CSF to murine leukemic cells (WEHI-3B D+) and significantly higher than the concentration of G-CSF required to stimulate colony formation in vitro. Autoradiographic analysis confirmed the specificity of binding since granulocytic cells were labeled but lymphocytes, erythroid cells and eosinophils were not. Blast cells and monocytic cells were partially labeled, the latter at low levels. In the neutrophilic granulocyte series, grain counts increased with cell maturity, polymorphs being the most heavily labeled but all cells showed considerable heterogeneity in the degree of labeling. Combination of Scatchard analysis of binding with autoradiographic data indicated that mature granulocytes from murine bone marrow exhibited 50-500 G-CSF receptors per cell.