Alterations of glycolipids of human leukemia cell line HL-60 during differentiation

Alterations of glycolipids of human leukemia cell line HL-60 during differentiation were investigated. The neutral glycolipids of HL-60 cells are of the lacto-types such as lactosylceramide (LacCer) and lactoneotetraglycosylceramide (nLcOse4Cer). The gangliosides of HL-60 cells consisted of a mixture of the lacto-types and the ganglio-types. Chemical inducers of differentiation, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and dimethyl sulfoxide, altered the glycolipid profile; II3-alpha-acetylneuraminyl-lactosylceramide (GM3) increased in amount and LacCer and nLcOse4Cer decreased. Tunicamycin had no effect on the glycolipid synthesis. The GM3 accumulated more than tenfold in the TPA-induced macrophage-like cells. This accumulation could be due to the increased activity of LacCer sialytransferase.