The influence of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rh-TNF alpha) on granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells (CFU-GM) and clonogenic leukaemic blasts (CFU-L) in cultures in vitro.

We investigated the influence of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor alfa (rh-TNF alpha) on the clonal growth of CFU-GM from 14 normal individuals and clonogenic blasts (CFU-L) from 16 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in semi-solid cultures in vitro. Recombinant human TNF was produced by the Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Lódź, Poland) as a lyophylized powder. This factor was added to the culture medium at the concentrations of 10, 100, 1000 U/ml. A dose-dependent growth inhibition of CFU-GM and AML CFU-L was observed. The inhibitory effect of rh-TNF alpha was significantly greater on CFU-L than CFU-GM.