Interleukin-4 rapidly down-modulates the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor in murine macrophages

The activation of macrophages interferes with their response to macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), the main growth and differentiation factor for mononuclear phagocytes. We tested the rapid effects of interleukin-4 (IL-4), the alternative macrophage activator produced by Th2 helper lymphocytes, on the receptor for M-CSF (M-CSFR) expressed on the cell surface of murine macrophages. IL4 rapidly down-modulated M-CSFR in a dose-dependent fashion. This effect was unique to IL-4 among a number of Th2-produced cytokines, none of which, with the exception of IL4 itself, is able to activate macrophages. The down-modulation of M-CSFR by IL4 was partially prevented by the inhibition of the activity of phospholipase C or protein kinase C. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the down-modulation of M-CSFR is a property common to, and exclusive of, macrophage activators, and is driven by different activators via a common mechanism.