Characterization of factors stimulating differentiation of mouse myeloid leukemia cells from a Yoshida sarcoma cell line cultured in serum-free medium.

A clone, YS-T22, of cells from Yoshida sarcoma cell line, YSSF-212T, grown in "serum-free" culture medium produced factors stimulating differentiation of mouse myeloid leukemia cells (M1) to macrophages and granulocytes. The formation of macrophages and granulocytes was accompanied by induction of phagocytosis, locomotive activity, and lysosomal enzyme activities. The rates of induction of these differentiated phenotypes were proportional to the concentration of the factor added and the period of treatment. The factor stimulating differentiation of M1 cells was a heat-labile, nondialyzable proteinaceous substance that was inactivated by trypsin but not by ribonuclease or glycosidases. On diethylaminoethyl cellulose chromatography, the factor stimulating differentiation of M1 cells from conditioned medium of YS-T22 cells was eluted in various fractions with or without activity of the colony-stimulating factor.