Modulation of IL-1R on human neutrophils was investigated after in vitro treatment of cells with human recombinant (hr) granulocyte (G)-CSF, hrgranulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF, hrCSF-1, hrIL-1 alpha, hrIL-2, hrIL-3, hrIL-4, hrIL-5, hrIL-6, hrIL-7, transforming growth factor-beta 1, or hrTNF-alpha. At 4 degrees C, 125I-IL-1 binding was competed by IL-1 but not by other cytokines tested. At 37 degrees C, GM-CSF, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 decreased 125I-IL-1 binding in a dose-dependent manner. Kinetic studies showed that GM-CSF reduced > 45% IL-1 binding within 15 min but later (8 h) produced a > 2-fold increase. In contrast, TNF decreased > 85% IL-1 binding within 15 min with a recovery of > 80% relative to that of control after 24 h. Scatchard analysis revealed that TNF or GM-CSF down-modulation of IL-1 binding was due to a decrease of IL-1R number. Further studies showed that dexamethasone and GM-CSF (or G-CSF) synergistically increased IL-1 binding after 8 h. This synergistic modulation was a cytokine dose- and time-dependent process, and was due to an increase in IL-1R numbers rather than a change in binding affinity. In addition, human bone marrow neutrophils, cord blood neutrophils, and several human hematopoietic cell lines (HL-60, U-937, and AML-193) responded to dexamethasone and GM-CSF (or G-CSF) with a superadditive increase in IL-1 binding. Because mammalian systems respond to bacterial endotoxins with secretion of TNF, IL-1, glucocorticoids, G-CSF and GM-CSF, our results shed additional light on this highly regulated cytokine network and revealed a novel role for GM-CSF.