A protein produced by a monocytic human cell line can induce apoptosis on tumor cells

A serum-free medium conditioned by U937, a human cell line of monocyte/macrophage origin, was found capable of inducing apoptosis on exponentially growing U937 cells themselves (autocrine suicide). The apoptosis-inducing agent is a macromolecule and possibly a protein (SKT factor), with a relative molecular mass in the range of 18-25 kDa. All human tumor cell lines examined have been induced to apoptosis with high efficiency, whereas non transformed human lymphocytes and monocytes are insensitive to the apoptosis-inducing activity; moreover, partially differentiated U937 are not killed but induced to full maturation. These observations suggest that the SKT factor could possibly be a cytokine with a specific cytotoxic tropism, that resembles in many respects the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF), even though no TNF is detectable in the conditioned medium.