Serum alleviates the requirement of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-induced Ras activation for proliferation of BaF3 cells.

Deletion analysis of the beta subunit of the human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptor previously defined two cytoplasmic regions required for distinct signaling. The membrane-proximal region is responsible for induction of c-myc and pim-1, and is indispensable for GM-CSF-dependent proliferation of mouse BaF3 transfectants. The distal region is required for activation of Ras, Raf-1, MAP kinase and p70 S6 kinase as well as induction of c-fos and c-jun, but is dispensable for GM-CSF-dependent proliferation of transfectants under normal culture conditions containing serum. Here we show that signals induced by the distal region of the beta subunit are also required for proliferation. GM-CSF supported proliferation of BaF3 transfectants expressing the normal beta subunit, even in serum-free medium. However, in the absence of seru, GM-CSF did not support proliferation of BaF3 transfectants that have the beta deletion mutants lacking the distal region. Serum-induced activation of Ras, phosphorylation of MAP kinase and expression of c-fos in parental BaF3 cells and antisense oligonucleotide against c-raf blocked DNA synthesis of BaF3 cells. These results indicate that proliferation of BaF3 cells requires signals induced by the proximal as well as the distal region of the beta subunit of the GM-CSF receptor, and that serum alleviates the requirement of signals induced by the distal region.