Interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) can induce differentiation of chronic B cell leukemia expressing the alpha subunit of IL-3 and GM-CSF receptor.

Interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-3 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) exhibit similar functions on eosinophils, and these common functions are believed to be mediated by the shared beta chain of receptors. IL-5 shows activity on the murine chronic B cell leukemia cell line BCL1-B20, inducing differentiation into IgM-secreting cells, but IL-3 and GM-CSF do not have such activity. To elucidate whether the lineage specificity of IL-5 is due to restricted expression of the IL-5 receptor alpha chain (IL-5R alpha), transfectants of BCL1-B20 were established that express IL-3 receptor alpha (BCL1-3R) or GM-CSF receptor alpha (BCL1-GMR). BCL1-3R and BCL1-GMR acquired responsiveness to IL-3 and GM-CSF, respectively, to an extent similar to IL-5 stimulation, resulting in IgM-secreting cells. Thus, the differentiation of BCL1-B20 into IgM-secreting cells can be equally supported by either IL-3 or GM-CSF, suggesting that intracellular signaling through IL-5R can be replaced by signaling from IL-3R and GM-CSFR. These results support the notion that the lineage specificity of IL-5 is mainly due to the restricted expression of IL-5R alpha. Regulation of IL-5R alpha, IL-3R alpha and GM-CSFR alpha expression in the developmental stage appears to be important for understanding the unique function of these cytokines on a particular cell type.