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Protein / target

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor

Encoded byCSF1RP07333Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
7
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor

Strongest disease association

Leukoencephalopathy, diffuse hereditary, with spheroids 1

Via encoding gene CSF1R · Genetic evidence · score 0.93

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules and antibodies

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for CSF1 and IL34 and plays an essential role in the regulation of survival, proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic precursor cells, especially mononuclear phagocytes, such as macrophages and monocytes.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for CSF1 and IL34 and plays an essential role in the regulation of survival, proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic precursor cells, especially mononuclear phagocytes, such as macrophages and monocytes. Promotes the release of pro-inflammatory chemokines in response to IL34 and CSF1, and thereby plays an important role in innate immunity and in inflammatory processes. Plays an important role in the regulation of osteoclast proliferation and differentiation, the regulation of bone resorption, and is required for normal bone and tooth development. Required for normal male and female fertility, and for normal development of milk ducts and acinar structures in the mammary gland during pregnancy. Promotes reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, regulates formation of membrane ruffles, cell adhesion and cell migration, and promotes cancer cell invasion. Activates several signaling pathways in response to ligand binding, including the ERK1/2 and the JNK pathway (PubMed:20504948, PubMed:30982609). Phosphorylates PIK3R1, PLCG2, GRB2, SLA2 and CBL. Activation of PLCG2 leads to the production of the cellular signaling molecules diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, that then lead to the activation of protein kinase C family members, especially PRKCD. Phosphorylation of PIK3R1, the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, leads to activation of the AKT1 signaling pathway. Activated CSF1R also mediates activation of the MAP kinases MAPK1/ERK2 and/or MAPK3/ERK1, and of the SRC family kinases SRC, FYN and YES1. Activated CSF1R transmits signals both via proteins that directly interact with phosphorylated tyrosine residues in its intracellular domain, or via adapter proteins, such as GRB2. Promotes activation of STAT family members STAT3, STAT5A and/or STAT5B. Promotes tyrosine phosphorylation of SHC1 and INPP5D/SHIP-1. Receptor signaling is down-regulated by protein phosphatases, such as INPP5D/SHIP-1, that dephosphorylate the receptor and its downstream effectors, and by rapid internalization of the activated receptor. In the central nervous system, may play a role in the development of microglia macrophages (PubMed:30982608)

Subcellular location

Cell membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (60)

Domains & features

Ig-like C2-type 1Ig-like C2-type 2Ig-like C2-type 3Ig-like C2-type 4Ig-like C2-type 5Protein kinase

Gene Ontology

  • Ccell surface
  • CCSF1-CSF1R complex
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Creceptor complex
  • FATP binding
  • Fcytokine binding
  • Fgrowth factor binding
  • Fmacrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor activity
  • Fprotein homodimerization activity
  • Fprotein phosphatase binding
  • Fprotein tyrosine kinase activity
  • Paxon guidance

972 aa · 108 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Cell migrationUniProt · GOCell proliferation & survivalGOReceptor tyrosine kinase signallingGOImmune signallingGO · ReactomeCell adhesionUniProt · GO
View supporting evidence

Cell migration

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for CSF1 and IL34 and plays…
  • ·cell migration
  • ·positive regulation of cell migration
  • ·positive regulation of cell motility

Cell proliferation & survival

  • ·cell population proliferation
  • ·negative regulation of cell population proliferation
  • ·positive regulation of cell population proliferation

Receptor tyrosine kinase signalling

  • ·cell surface receptor protein tyrosine kinase signaling pathway

Immune signalling

  • ·cytokine binding
  • ·cellular response to cytokine stimulus
  • ·cytokine-mediated signaling pathway
  • ·inflammatory response

Cell adhesion

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for CSF1 and IL34 and plays…
  • ·cell-cell junction maintenance
View underlying pathways (3)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

CSF1IL34SPI1TNFSF11RUNX1CSF2CBLTYROBPGRB2KITLGCSF1R

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

2 medicines · 4 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell1 medicine
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors1 medicine
Neuroendocrine Tumors1 medicine
Neoplasms2 medicines

7 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 2 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

pexidartinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor inhibitor

Indicated for Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 3 recorded protein targets — narrow recorded profile

sunitinib
ApprovedInhibitor

Macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor inhibitor

Indicated for Carcinoma, Renal Cell, Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 9 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene CSF1R

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CSF1Rthat encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia
0.95Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.83

Leukoencephalopathy, diffuse hereditary, with spheroids 1
0.94Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.84

Brain abnormalities, neurodegeneration, and dysosteosclerosis
0.91Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.78

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
0.78Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.63

Neoplasms
0.77Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.59

View evidence synthesis (5)
Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented gliaWell supported
0.95
agreement 0.831.00
Genetic76%Animal model14%Literature11%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.83 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Leukoencephalopathy, diffuse hereditary, with spheroids 1Well supported
0.94
agreement 0.821.00
Genetic84%Animal model16%Literature1%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.84 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Brain abnormalities, neurodegeneration, and dysosteosclerosisWell supported
0.91
agreement 0.791.00
Genetic88%Animal model12%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.78 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Gastrointestinal Stromal TumorsWell supported
0.78
agreement 0.660.90
Clinical76%Somatic mutation21%Literature4%

Open Targets aggregate 0.63 · 3 independent evidence families

NeoplasmsWell supported
0.77
agreement 0.650.89
Clinical66%Somatic mutation20%Literature15%

Open Targets aggregate 0.59 · 3 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Leukoencephalopathy, diffuse hereditary, with spheroids 10.84
Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia0.83
Brain abnormalities, neurodegeneration, and dysosteosclerosis0.78
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors0.63
Carcinoma, Renal Cell0.60
Neoplasms0.59
Leukoencephalopathy, hereditary diffuse, with spheroids0.56
Tenosynovial giant cell tumor, diffuse type0.52
Neuroendocrine Tumors0.52
Soft tissue sarcoma0.51

Drug development

21 compounds recorded · 7 approved · 14 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (2 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (10)
VATALANIBPhase 3
AXATILIMABPhase 3
IMC-CS4Phase 1 2
AMG-820Phase 1 2
EDICOTINIBPhase 2
PAZOPANIB HYDROCHLORIDEApproval
PLX-7486Phase 1
ARRY-382Phase 2
PEXIDARTINIB HYDROCHLORIDEApproval
QUIZARTINIBApproval

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Approved Drug and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesStrong

Advanced Clinical and GO CC high conf support this modality.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot ubiquitination and database ubiquitination) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (13)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · Advanced ClinicalAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMAB · Human Protein Atlas locPR · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Safety-related annotations

regulation of catalytic activityToxCast

Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

RECRUITING · via sunitinib · NCT07477457

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via sunitinib · NCT02465060

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via sunitinib · NCT01396408

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

12

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. New publication2024-05-03
    Machine-learning and mechanistic modeling of metastatic breast cancer after neoadjuvant treatment.

    PLoS computational biology · 2024 · 10 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  2. New publication2024-01-05
    Genomic profiling in GIST: Implications in clinical outcome and future challenges.

    Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2024 · 20 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  3. New publication2021-03-01
    Nivolumab plus Cabozantinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2021 · 1,297 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  4. Regulatory approval2021-02-11

    Approval: Sunitinib Accord (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via sunitinib

  5. New publication2019-08-16
    Nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus sunitinib in first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma: extended follow-up of efficacy and safety results from a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial.

    The Lancet. Oncology · 2019 · 595 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  6. New publication2019-02-16
    Pembrolizumab plus Axitinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2019 · 2,427 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  7. New publication2018-03-21
    Nivolumab plus Ipilimumab versus Sunitinib in Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2018 · 3,404 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  8. New publication2013-08-01
    Pazopanib versus sunitinib in metastatic renal-cell carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2013 · 1,353 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  9. New publication2009-05-18
    Multicenter phase II trial of sunitinib in the treatment of nongastrointestinal stromal tumor sarcomas.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2009 · 234 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  10. Regulatory approval2006-07-19

    Approval: Sutent (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via sunitinib

  11. New publication2005-12-05
    Activity of SU11248, a multitargeted inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and platelet-derived growth factor receptor, in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2006 · 1,110 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  12. New publication2005-11-28
    Safety, pharmacokinetic, and antitumor activity of SU11248, a novel oral multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in patients with cancer.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2006 · 832 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.