Characterization of NO and cytokine release by transplantable melanoma cell lines in relationship to their differentiation

Changes in the secretory activity of two transplantable melanoma lines (differing in many biological features) as regards nitric oxide (NO) release and interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and oncostatin M (OSM) secretion were the subject of the present study. The results obtained show that a spontaneous alteration of the hamster native melanoma line into an amelanotic one is accompanied by a global change of the secretory activity, but there was not a distinct correlation between the endogenous cytokine secretion and NO secretion by cells of both melanoma lines.