Antitumor activity of normal human globulin: effects on murine and human erythroleukemic cells

The effect of the antitumor fraction isolated from the alpha 2-globulin region of normal human serum (NHG-I) upon murine (FELC) and human (K562) erythroleukemic cells in vitro was determined. NHG-I inhibited the growth of both actively growing FELC and K562 cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, it has no effect upon mitomycin C treated FELC which were unable to divide nor upon dimethylsulfoxide-induced FELC in stationary phase. These results indicate that NHG-I has a cytostatic effect upon cell growth and suggests that its action may be dependent upon DNA synthesis. This is in marked contrast to TNF, the alpha 2-globulin factor obtained from murine serum which is also not species-specific but whose action upon these cell lines is cytotoxic.