Constitutive and inducible granulocyte-macrophage functions in mouse, rat, and human myeloid leukemia-derived continuous tissue culture lines.

Fourteen continuous tissue culture cell lines derived from mouse, rat, or human granulocyte-macrophage cancers were studied for expression of spontaneous and inducible markers of differentiated cells. Five cell lines (two mouse, two rat, and one human) synthesized myeloperoxidase spontaneously, and a fifth mouse line showed biochemically inducible enzyme. Twelve lines (6 mouse, 3 rat, and 3 human) produced lysozyme (muramidase), and all had detectable beta-glucuronidase. Superoxide generation was detected in one mouse, and three human cell lines following stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate. Maturation to differentiated polymorphonuclear leukocyte or macrophage morphology was induced in 3 cell lines (2 mouse and 1 human) following culture in diffusion chambers in total-body-irradiated rats. In vitro morphological differentiation was inducible in one (mouse) cell line exposed to casein, thioglycolate, or plasma from irradiated rats or mice. These findings indicate that mammalian cell lines derived from granulocyte-macrophage cancers stably express several combinations of differentiation markers. The patterns of expression of these markers did not always correlate with the morphological stage of differentiation.