SCGF is a cytokine for primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells and exhibits species-specific activity. It is predominantly expressed in proliferating chondrocytes, bone marrow cells, the periosteum and the perichondrium of skeletal tissues. SCGF contains an N-terminal Arg-Gly-Asp triplet (RGD triplet), leucine zipper domains, a C-terminal C-type lectin domain and numerous potential glycosylation sites. It has burst-promoting activity and granulocyte/macrophage colony-promoting activity in vitro. SCGF is directly correlated to granulocyte recovery following stem cell transplantation and thus can be an indicator of hematopoietic recovery following stem cell transplantation.