Alterations in genes that function in normal growth and development have been linked to malignant cell transformation. The mononuclear phagocyte colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1 or M-CSF) is a polypeptide growth factor synthesized by mesenchymal cells, which stimulates the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of haematopoietic cells of the monocyte-macrophage series. Multiple forms of soluble CSF-1 are produced by proteolytic cleavage of membrane-bound precursors, some of which are stably expressed at the cell surface. The c-fms proto-oncogene encodes the CSF-1 receptor, which is composed of an extracellular ligand-binding domain linked by a single membrane-spanning segment to a cytoplasmic tyrosine-specific protein kinase domain. Whereas the tyrosine kinase activity of the normal receptor is stimulated by CSF-1, mutations in the c-fms gene can constitutively activate the kinase to provide growth-stimulatory signals in the absence of the ligand. Oncogenic activation of the c-fms gene product appears to involve removal of a negative regulatory tyrosine residue near the carboxyl terminus of the receptor and one or more additional mutations that may simulate a conformational change induced by CSF-1 binding. Expression of the human c-fms gene in mouse NIH-3T3 cells confers a CSF-1 stimulated growth phenotype, indicating that receptor transduction is sufficient for fibroblasts to respond to a haematopoietic growth factor. In contrast, the v-fms oncogene induces factor-independent growth and tumorigenicity in factor-dependent myeloid cell lines, and contributes to the development of proliferative disorders of multiple haematopoietic lineages when introduced into murine bone marrow progenitors. Aberrant expression of an endogenous c-fms gene secondary to proviral insertion and transcriptional activation has also been implicated in virus-induced myeloblastic leukaemia in mice. The c-fms and CSF-1 genes have been mapped on the long arm of human chromosome 5, a region that frequently undergoes interstitial deletions in certain haematopoietic disorders including acute myelogenous leukaemia. The study of CSF-1 and its receptor should provide information concerning the role of tyrosine kinases in regulating the normal growth and differentiation of haematopoietic cells and in contributing to their malignant transformation.