Cell proliferation and CD11b expression are controlled independently during HL60 cell differentiation initiated by 1,25 alpha-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) or all-trans-retinoic acid.

When 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (D(3)) induces HL60 cells to differentiate to monocytes, a burst of approximately three shortened cell cycles ("maturation divisions") precedes exit from cell cycle and completion of maturation. Here we show that similar maturation divisions occur during neutrophil differentiation induced by all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), but without shortening of the cell cycle. Both ATRA and D(3) initiate these maturation divisions as cells pass through a "window of sensitivity" during early G1. We also investigated whether the initiation of maturation divisions and of the expression of CD11b, an early-expressed maturation marker, are linked. Cells treated with D(3) or ATRA start to express CD11b after 9--14 h, before completing the first maturation division. Elutriation was used to isolate small HL60 cells (almost all in G1) and larger cells (in G1 and S phases) from unsynchronized populations. When these were cultured with D(3) or ATRA, most reentered cycle synchronously, multiplied, and differentiated. Following D(3) treatment, the G1-enriched small cells expressed CD11b slightly faster than unsynchronized cultures or fractions dominated by late G1 cells and/or S phase cells. D(3)-induced CD11b expression occurred at a similar rate even in G1 cells that were held at the G1/S boundary by thymidine. In conclusion, changes in the control of the cell cycle that characterize the onset of monocytic and neutrophil differentiation are only triggered in early G1, but CD11b expression can be initiated from most points in the cell cycle. Differentiating agents must therefore regulate the proliferation and the maturation of differentiating myeloid cells by mechanisms that are at least partly independent.