colony-stimulating factor

noun

col·​o·​ny-stim·​u·​lat·​ing factor ˈkä-lə-nē-ˈstim-yə-ˈlā-tiŋ 

: any of several glycoproteins that promote the differentiation of stem cells especially into blood granulocytes and macrophages and that stimulate their proliferation into colonies in culture

Examples of colony-stimulating factor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Giving mice a drug that blocked the critical protein colony-stimulating factor 1, which microglia need to survive, was shown to remove around 90 percent of microglia in the brain. —Jason Ulrich, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2021

Otilimab is a monoclonal antibody against the granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or GM-CSF, which stimulates the production of white blood cells. —Matthew Herper, STAT, 27 Feb. 2021

The virus, called T-VEC, produces a substance called granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor. —Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 7 Sep. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

colony-stimulating factor

noun

col·​o·​ny-stim·​u·​lat·​ing factor -ˌstim-yə-ˌlāt-iŋ- 

: any of several glycoproteins that promote the differentiation of stem cells especially into blood granulocytes and macrophages and that stimulate their proliferation into colonies in culture see granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-3, macrophage colony-stimulating factor