Endogenous Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Overexpression In Vivo Results in the Long-Term Recruitment of a Distinct Dendritic Cell Population with Enhanced Immunostimulatory Function

GM-CSF is critical for dendritic cell (DC) survival and differentiation in vitro. To study its effect on DC development and function in vivo, we used a gene transfer vector to transiently overexpress GM-CSF in mice. We found that up to 24% of splenocytes became CD11c+ and the number of DC increased up to 260-fold to 3 x 10(8) cells. DC numbers remained substantially elevated even 75 days after treatment. The DC population was either …