Regulation of normal differentiation in mouse and human myeloid leukemic cells by phorbol esters and the mechanism of tumor promotion

The control of cell multiplication and differentiation by tumor-promoting phorbol esters including 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) has been studied with different clones of mouse myeloid leukemic cells, a line of human myeloid leukemic cells, and normal mouse bone marrow myeloblasts. TPA induced normal cell differentiation in one of the mouse leukemic clones and this was mediated by induction of the protein inducer of differentiation to macrophages or granulocytes (MGI) in the cells that then differentiated. Other mouse clones were not induced to differentiate by TPA. In one of these clones, TPA induced cell susceptibility to externally added MGI. This effect was not due to a general induction of susceptibility to all compounds because TPA did not induce susceptibility to lypopolysaccharide or dexamethasone in this clone. In the human leukemic cell line, TPA also induced differentiation with the induction of MGI activity and enhanced susceptibility to added MGI. It is suggested that the clonal differences in induction of MGI activity and increased susceptibility to MGI may be associated with differences in receptors for TPA and the ability of TPA to modify receptors for MGI. Studies with normal bone marrow cells have indicated that TPA stimulated MGI activity and also increased susceptibility of normal myeloblasts to induction of multiplication by MGI. The ability of different phorbol esters to produce these effects on normal myeloblasts and myeloid leukemic cells paralleled their ability to act as tumor promoters. The results indicate that a tumor promoter such as TPA can induce the production of and increase cell susceptibility to a normal regulator of cell multiplication and differentiation. TPA has pleiotropic effects. It is suggested that, by these mechanisms, TPA may thus act as a tumor promoter by increasing cell multiplication in initiated cells, induce differentiation in some cells, or inhibit differentiation in other cells, depending on which molecules are being regulated in the TPA-treated cells.     

Differentiation of human myeloid leukemia cell lines induced by tumor-promoting phorbol ester (TPA). II. Electrophoretic patterns of metabolically- and cell surface radiolabeled proteins and glycoproteins

Electrophoretic patterns of cell surface proteins and cell surface sialogalactoproteins from human myeloid leukemia cell lines HL-60, ML-1, ML-2 and ML-3 before and after induction of morphological differentiation by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), have been compared. Minor quantitative cell surface protein alterations associated with TPA-induced differentiation have been observed as follows: decrease of a 150-160k glycoprotein on some TPA-induced myeloid cell lines, increase of a 50k glycoprotein and alteration of a 95k glycoprotein associated with the induction of differentiation by TPA. Electrophoretic patterns of 35S-methionine metabolically radiolabeled cell proteins revealed minor but distinct quantitative differences in several proteins, such as increased labeling of 180k, 160k and 130k proteins and decreased expression of 83k, 76k and 63k proteins on TPA-induced HL-60 cells. Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of 35S-methionine metabolically radiolabeled cell proteins revealed at least 17 proteins more intensively labeled and 13 proteins with decreased intensity of labeling on TPA-induced HL-60 cells compared to uninduced HL-60 cells.     

Tyrosine protein kinase activity in normal and leukaemic human blood cells

Tyrosine protein kinase (TPK) activity was measured in subcellular fractions of normal granulocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes, and acute and chronic myeloid and lymphoid leukaemic cells. Of several tested tyrosine-containing substrates, poly (glutamic acid: tyrosine = 4:1) (S1) proved to be the best synthetic substrate. High cytosolic TPK activity was found in every cell type. Different TPKs may exist in various cell fractions, as was indicated by the difference in Km values for S1 in cell fractions of normal granulocytes and lymphocytes. No significant difference was found in total TPK activity between normal and leukaemic cells, indicating that total TPK activity is not related to the leukaemic process itself. A highly significant difference was found in membrane fractions in normal granulocytes and M1-M2 AML cells versus normal monocytes and M4-M5 AML cells, suggesting an association between TPK activity and monocytic differentiation in these cell fractions.     

Induction of differentiation of human myeloid leukemia cells by immunosuppressant macrolides (rapamycin and FK506) and calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase inhibitors

OBJECTIVE: Potent immunosuppressants, such as rapamycin, FK506, and ascomycin, are known to regulate the phosphorylation of proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of these immunosuppressants on differentiation of several human myeloid leukemic cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human myeloid leukemic cell lines were cultured with each immunosuppressant, and several differentiation markers were assayed. RESULTS: Rapamycin effectively induced granulocytic differentiation of human myeloid leukemic HL-60 and ML-1 cells. In addition to morphologic differentiation, it also induced nitroblue tetrazolium reduction, lysozyme activity, and expression of CD11b in HL-60 cells. The commitment to differentiation was observed after treatment with rapamycin for 1 day, indicating that the effect of rapamycin was irreversible. FK506 and ascomycin induced differentiation of HL-60 cells, but at higher concentrations than rapamycin. A calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase (CaMK) was copurified with FKBP52 immunophilin, a binding protein of immunosuppressants. We also found that the CaMK inhibitors KN62 and KN93 induced differentiation of HL-60 cells. Rapamycin and CaMK inhibitors induced differentiation of human myeloid leukemia ML-1 and K562, but not of other cell lines such as NB4, U937, or HEL. CONCLUSION: Immunosuppressants and CaMK inhibitors induced differentiation of HL-60, ML-1, and K562 cells.     

In Vitro Induction of Granulocyte Differentiation in Hematopoietic Cells from Leukemic and Non-Leukemic Patients

Human spleen-conditioned medium can induce the formation in vitro of large granulocyte colonies from normal human bone marrow cells. The granulocyte colonies contained cells in various stages of differentiation, from myeloblasts to mature neutrophile granulocytes. Human spleen-conditioned medium also induced colony formation with rodent bone-marrow cells, whereas rodent spleen-conditioned medium induced colony formation with rodent bone marrow but not with human cells.This in vitro system has been used to determine the potentialities for cell differentiation in bone-marrow and peripheral blood cells from patients with a block in granulocyte differentiation in vivo. The cloning efficiency, colony size, and number of mature granulocytes in bone-marrow colonies from patients with congential neutropenia, whose bone marrow contained only 1% mature granulocytes, were not less than in people whose bone marrow had the normal level of about 40% mature granulocytes. The cloning efficiency of peripheral blood cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia was 350 times higher, with 10 times larger colonies, than the cloning efficiency of peripheral blood cells from normal people. The cytochemical properties and number of mature granulocytes in colonies from the leukemic patients were the same as in colonies from non-leukemic people.The results indicate that a block in cell differentiation in vivo, in these cases with neutropenia and acute myeloid leukemia, was overcome in vitro, in the presence of an inducer in the conditioned medium. In patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, colony formation was induced only in some of the cases. This indicates that there are blast cells with different potentialities for the development of colonies in different patients.     

Terminal differentiation surface antigens of myelomonocytic cells are expressed in human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL60) treated with chemical inducers

The expression of two surface antigens present on the cell membrane of both human granulocytes and monocytes was studied during the process of myelomonocytic differentiation using two monoclonal antibodies (B9.8.1 and B13.4.1). These surface antigens are not present on immature myeloid cells nor on nonmyeloid hematopoietic cells, but can be detected when the cells are terminally differentiated. Among the bone marrow cells, B13.4.1 binds to metamyelocytes and B9.8.1 to metamyelocytes and a fraction (30%) of myelocytes. HL60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells did not react with such monoclonal antibodies. However, when such cells were induced to differentiate in vitro into mature myeloid elements by treatment with retinoic acid or dimethyl sulfoxide, 70%--90% of the differentiated cells expressed both surface antigens. Cell sorting studies on these treated HL60 cells indicated that myelocytes and metamyelocytes were the most immature cells expressing such markers. Expression of the two surface antigens was also observed when HL60 cells were induced to differentiate into monocyte/macrophage cells by treatment with the tumor promoter 12-O- tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate. Thus, human promyelocytic leukemia cells induced to differentiate in vitro by treatment with specific chemical agents express membrane antigens in the same pattern as normal bone marrow myeloid cells at the corresponding stage of differentiation.     

Implication of expression of GDNF/Ret signalling components in differentiation of bone marrow haemopoietic cells

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NTN) mediate their actions through a unique multicomponent receptor system composed of Ret receptor tyrosine kinase and glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-linked cell surface proteins (designated GFRalpha-1 and GFRalpha-2). In the present study, expression of these signalling components in the process of differentiation of haemopoietic cells was investigated. Ret was expressed at variable levels in normal and malignant cells of the myelomonocyte lineage. Immunohistochemical analysis of human and mouse tissues revealed that Ret expression was increased in intermediate mature myeloid cells such as promyelocytes and myelocytes and decreased in mature granulocytes and monocytes. Consistent with this observation, when THP-1 monocytic and HL-60 promyelocytic leukaemia cells expressing Ret were differentiated toward macrophages or granulocytes by treatment of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or all-trans retinoic acid (RA), Ret expression strikingly decreased during differentiation. Expression of GDNF, NTN, GFRalpha-1 and GFRalpha-2 was undetectable in THP-1 and HL-60 cells as well as in bone marrow haemopoietic cells. In contrast, bone marrow stromal cells appeared to express GDNF, GFRalpha-1 and GFRalpha-2 but not Ret. These findings suggested that the interaction between stromal cells and Ret-expressing haemopoietic cells in the bone marrow microenvironment may play a role in the differentiation of myelomonocyte-lineage cells through activation of the GDNF/Ret signalling pathway.     

Characteristic expression of glycosphingolipid profiles in the bipotential cell differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60

Changes of glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in the bipotential cell differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 cells were investigated by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), with special reference to morphological and functional changes, such as phagocytosis and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction. Nine molecular species of neutral GSLs and 13 or more species of sialo-GSLs, ie, gangliosides, were detected on the HPTLC chromatograms for untreated HL-60 cells. The major components were ceramide dihexoside (CDH), GM3, and sialo-paragloboside (SPG). When HL- 60 cells were induced to differentiate into both myeloid mature cells and macrophage-like cells in vitro, no new molecular species of GSLs specific for one of the cell differentiations was induced, but distinctive quantitative changes in the GSL composition were definitely observed between the two cell differentiations. During the myeloid differentiation induced by either dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or retinoic acid (RA), CDH, paragloboside (PG), and gangliosides having longer sugar moieties characteristically increased with a concomitant decrease of GSLs with shorter sugar chains, such as ceramide monohexoside (CMH) and GM3, and the GSL composition profile of myeloid differentiation- induced HL-60 cells became more similar to that of normal human granulocytes. However, some marked differences were noted between the induced HL-60 cells and the normal granulocytes, especially in the ganglioside compositions. These differences might reflect either some deficiency in the in vitro myeloid differentiation or some leukemic properties of HL-60 cells. In marked contrast to the change of GSL composition during myeloid differentiation, a remarkable increase of GM3, with a concurrent marked decrease of CDH, was observed in the process of cell differentiation into macrophage-like cells with 12-O- tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), which suggested an increase in the biosynthesis of GM3. These results demonstrate that HL-60 cells express distinct GSL profiles, depending not only on maturation stages but also on differentiation directions.     

Membrane differentiation in human myeloid cells: expression of unique profiles of cell surface glycoproteins in myeloid leukemic cell lines blocked at different stages of differentiation and maturation.

Cell surface glycoprotein structures of human leukemic cell lines blocked at various stages of myeloid (granulocyte--monocyte) differentiation and maturation were characterized. Cell lines representing early stages of differentiation and maturation such as KG1a, KG1 and those representing later stages such as ML-1-3 and HL-60 were found to express discretely different sets of cell surface glycoproteins. The proteins (such as Gp130) present on mature granulocytes appear only in cell lines representing later stages of maturation. The quantity and structure of the carbohydrate chains susceptible to endo-beta-galactosidase ("lactosaminoglycan") are also significantly different among cell lines. A small quantity of essentially unbranched lactosaminoglycan is present on KG1a and KG1 cells, whereas a significant quantity of branched lactosaminoglycan is present on the more mature ML-1-3 and HL-60 cells. The process of myeloid maturation from promyeloblast to granulocyte is accompanied by the disappearance of the 105- and 95-kilodalton glycoproteins, the appearance of Gp130, and a great increase in the quantity and branching structure of lactosaminoglycan. These results are discussed together with our previous findings on erythroid differentiation and maturation.     

Induction of B-lymphocyte antigens on the chronic myeloid leukemic cell line K562 using sodium butyrate

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a disorder arising from a defect in the hemopoietic stem cell. Consequently, the malignant clone can involve all cells within the stem cell's capacity for differentiation, including erythrocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, megakaryocytes, and lymphocytes. Similarly, the K562 cell line, which was derived from a patient with CML, has been shown to be capable of differentiation towards erythrocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, and megakaryocytes, and in this respect may represent a model of the hemopoietic stem cell. However, although K562 shows properties of a myeloid stem cell, no lymphocyte-specific features or differentiation have yet been described. In the present study, K562 cells have been induced to differentiate by culture in the presence of sodium butyrate. The direction and extent of induced differentiation over 12 days were determined with a panel of monoclonal antibodies and with cytochemical stains. This treatment consistently induced expression of pre-B-cell markers, including B-lymphocyte-specific B4 and B1, and of the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA), recognized by J5. In addition to the increased expression of B-lymphocyte markers, butyrate induction of K562 resulted in a decrease in granulocyte markers, increases in certain monocyte and platelet markers, and an increase in beta 2 microglobulin expression. Butyrate-induced expression of B-lymphocyte markers was not observed with the myelomonocytic cell line U937. The expression of B-lymphocyte-specific antigens on butyrate-induced K562 may result from the relaxed control of gene expression, but alternatively these observations may indicate the lymphoid-myeloid stem cell nature of K562.     

TPA induces differentiation of purified human myeloblasts in the absence of proliferation

Normal granulocyte-monocyte progenitor cells have an absolute requirement for colony-stimulating factor (CSF) for proliferation and differentiation in vitro. In contrast, cells derived from acute myeloblastic leukemia patients are often defective in their response to CSF, but can be induced to undergo terminal differentiation by exposure to 12-o-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) by a process that does not require cell proliferation. To investigate the relationship between TPA-induced leukemic cell differentiation and CSF-induced myeloid cell differentiation we investigated the effects of TPA on myeloblasts highly enriched from normal bone marrow and stable-phase chronic myeloid leukemia peripheral blood. TPA (10(-6)-10(-9) M) induced the rapid appearance of macrophage characteristics in the majority of myeloblasts in the absence of proliferation. The mechanisms of TPA- and CSF-induced myeloblast differentiation were compared by examining the requirement for DNA synthesis. Exposure of myeloblasts to CSF induced increased triatiated thymidine (3H-TdR) incorporation within a few hours, while TPA did not induce 3H-TdR incorporation by itself and was inhibitory to CSF-induced 3H-TdR uptake. This requirement for DNA synthesis was further investigated by reversibly inhibiting DNA synthesis by depleting intracellular polyamines with difluoromethylorinithine (DFMO). DFMO inhibited both CSF-induced proliferation and differentiation of myeloblasts, but had no effect on TPA-induced differentiation. These results demonstrate that the process of differentiation of myeloblasts induced by TPA is distinct from CSF-induced differentiation.     

Cannabinoids induce incomplete maturation of cultured human leukemia cells.

Monocyte maturation markers were induced in cultured human myeloblastic ML-2 leukemia cells after treatment for 1-6 days with 0.03-30 microM delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of marijuana. After a 2-day or longer treatment, 2- to 5-fold increases were found in the percentages of cells exhibiting reactivity with either the murine OKM1 monoclonal antibody or the Leu-M5 monoclonal antibody, staining positively for nonspecific esterase activity, and displaying a promonocyte morphology. The increases in these differentiation markers after treatment with 0.03-1 microM THC were dose dependent. At this dose range, THC did not cause an inhibition of cell growth. The THC-induced cell maturation was also characterized by specific changes in the patterns of newly synthesized proteins. Pronounced among these changes was an increase in the synthesis of at least 10 proteins that are found abundantly in monocytes. The THC-induced differentiation did not, however, result in cells with a highly developed mature monocyte phenotype; the THC-treated cells failed to exhibit other monocyte markers such as attachment to the surface of tissue culture dishes or morphological maturation beyond the promonocyte stage. However, treatment of these "incompletely" matured cells with either phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate or 1 alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, which are inducers of differentiation in myeloid leukemia cells (including ML-2 cells), produced cells with a mature monocyte morphology. Two other cannabinoids, cannabidiol and cannabinol, which were more cytotoxic than THC at comparable doses, also caused an increase in the expression of maturation markers, but at doses higher than those required for THC. The ML-2 cell system described here may be a useful tool for deciphering critical biochemical events that lead to the cannabinoid-induced "incomplete" cell differentiation of ML-2 cells and other related cell types. Findings obtained from this system may have important implications for studies of cannabinoid effects on normal human bone-marrow progenitor cells.     

A novel leukocyte differentiation antigen: two monoclonal antibodies TM2 and TM3 define a 120-kd molecule present on neutrophils, monocytes, platelets, and activated lymphoblasts

We produced two hybridomas by fusion of mouse myeloma cells with splenocytes from a mouse immunized with the THP-1 human monocytoid leukemia cell line. Two cloned hybridoma cell lines, designated as TM2 and TM3, were obtained. They secreted antibodies against a unique cell surface antigen expressed on all normal peripheral blood monocytes, neutrophilic granulocytes, platelets, and mitogen-induced lymphoblasts, some cells from patients with immature-type lymphoid leukemias. However, the antibodies reacted neither with large numbers of peripheral blood lymphocytes nor with red cells. Cross-blocking studies showed that these monoclonal antibodies recognized the same or a nearly positioned antigen epitope. Immunoprecipitation of THP-1 cell extract with TM2 or TM3 under reducing and nonreducing conditions yielded a specific band of mol wt equal to 120,000 daltons. This determinant appeared to be involved in granulocyte chemotaxis, since neutrophilic granulocytes exposed to TM2 or TM3 showed a significant decrease in chemotaxis toward endotoxin-activated serum. These two monoclonal antibodies did not affect O2- release or luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of neutrophils. Moreover, they did not alter platelet aggregation induced by thrombin. TM2 and TM3 will provide a new reagent in defining the linkage between lymphoid and myeloid differentiation and intermyeloid development.     

Analysis of antigenic determinants on human monocytes and macrophages

Mo1, 2, 3, and 4, and Plt-1 are a series of five distinct antigens detected on the surface of human peripheral blood monocytes by mouse monoclonal antibodies. Mo2 and 3 are restricted to the monocyte- macrophage series, while Mo1, as previously reported, is also expressed by human granulocytes and null cells. Mo3, as distinguished from Mo1 and Mo2, is weakly expressed by virgin peripheral blood monocytes but becomes well expressed if monocytes are cultured overnight at 37 degrees C. Mo4 is coexpressed by monocytes and platelets, while Plt-1 appears to be a platelet-specific antigen whose detection on monocytes reflects adherence of platelets to monocyte membranes. That Mo2-4 are true monocyte antigens is demonstrated by their resynthesis following protease treatment of monocytes (Mol expression is resistant to proteolytic digestion). During myeloid-monocyte differentiation, the Mo antigens are infrequently expressed by immature myeloid cells but are found at higher frequency on leukemic monocytic forms. Macrophages from cultured peripheral blood monocytes and HL-60 cells exposed to lymphokines or phorbol diester express Mo1-4, but noncirculating peritoneal macrophages lack Mo3. The Mo antigens are differentiation markers whose expression reflects membrane heterogeneity during myeloid- monocyte-macrophage maturation.     

Generation of Procoagulant Activity (PCA) by Macrophage-Like Cells Derived from Acute and Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Cells in Response to Phorbol Esters

Normal human monocytes and macrophages, as well as in vitro human leukaemic promyelocytic cell line (HL-60) transformed into macrophage-like cells by 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) generate potent procoagulant activity (PCA) similar to tissue thromboplastin. In the present study, only mild PCA was detected in primary cultures of cells from the peripheral blood of patients with acute lymphatic leukaemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). After exposure to TPA, AML and CML cells assumed characteristics specific to monocytes and macrophages. Differentiation was associated with the generation of PCA. PCA was not found in ALL cells exposed to TPA. The PCA of TPA-induced macrophages derived from AML and CML cells resembled tissue thromboplastin and normal monocyte and macrophage PCA in several aspects: (a) accelerated clotting via the extrinsic coagulation pathway, (b) inhibition by concanavalin A and protection against lectin inhibition by methyl-α-D-mannopyranoside, (c) localization in the cell membrane. The capacity for PCA generation is additional evidence for the similarity between TPA-induced macrophages derived from AML and CML cells and normal human monocytes and macrophages.