A class of colony stimulating factors (proteins) that stimulates bone marrow cells to produce certain types of red and white blood cells. Some colony stimulating factors are:
- Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)
- Granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor
- Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)
- Erythropoietin (EPO)
- Interleukin-3 (IL-3)
- Macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF).