Differentiated HL-60 promyelocytic leukaemia cells produce a factor inducing differentiation

The bipotential human promyelocytic leukaemia cell line HL-60 can be induced to differentiate into monocytic or granulocytic cells by treatment with 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) or dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) respectively. Conditioned media (CM) from 1,25(OH)2D3- or DMSO-treated cells were able to induce monocytic differentiation in fresh HL-60 cells as measured by induction of non-specific esterase and macrophage surface markers. CM from 1,25(OH)2D3-treated cells also led to a dose dependent loss of proliferative capacity in soft agar colony assays. These effects were not due to a toxic effect of the CM or to residual inducer present in the CM. gamma-interferon and GM-CSF were apparently not responsible for these effects. CM from the human histiocytic lymphoma cell line U937 led to only a low level of induction of macrophage differentiation in fresh HL-60 cells. The defect in HL-60 leukaemic cells may therefore be at the level of induction of an autonomously-produced differentiation factor.