Production of plasminogen activators by human T-cell leukaemia virus-transformed human T cell lines

Six human T cell lines HAMA, KUN, KAN, TCL-Haz, TCL-Ter, and TCL-Mor, which were transformed by a retrovirus, human T-cell leukaemia virus (HTLV), constitutively produced plasminogen activators (PAs) in culture supernatants. The amount of PAs produced varied among the cell lines. The PAs were distinguished by immunochemical analysis between two types: urokinase (UK)-type and non-UK-type. KUN, TCL-Ter, and HAMA mainly produced UK-type PA, whereas the other cell lines produced both types. Thus, HTLV-transformed T cell lines differ in the quality and quantity of the PAs they produce. The PAs in the culture supernatants of each cell line were separated into several mol. w forms on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results indicate that the same cell line produces PAs of different mol. wt. PA production by these cell lines was affected by treatment with phorbol miristate acetate, concanavalin A, and phytohaemagglutinin; the effects were substantially different in each cell line. The data described here indicate that HTLV-transformed T cell lines constitutively produce PAs which are very heterogeneous in both quality and quantity.