Induction of cytotoxic effector activity in the HL-60 promyelocytic cell line by incubation with phorbol myristate acetate: a model system of human spontaneous monocyte-mediated cytotoxicity.

In an attempt to develop a constant and reproducible in vitro system for a detailed analysis of cytotoxic effector mechanisms of nonimmune mononuclear phagocytes, the HL-60 promyelocytic cell line was studied for its cytotoxic action on chicken erythrocyte target cells. HL-60 cells cultured in complete medium were found to be noncytotoxic for chicken erythrocytes in an 18-hr 51Cr-release assay. These cells have been shown to acquire several characteristics of mature macrophages upon incubation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and when PMA was included in the medium during the assay, the HL-60 cells became strongly cytotoxic to the target cells in the absence of exogenous antibody, lectin, or serum complement. Freshly isolated peripheral blood monocytes also became cytotoxic in the presence of PMA, whereas peripheral blood lymphocytes and the U937 histiocytic cell line did not. Detectable target lysis was observed between 4 and 8 hr after HL-60 stimulation with PMA, and HL-60 cells prestimulated with PMA for 24 hr retained their cytotoxic activity following washing and assay in PMA-free medium. Cytotoxic HL-60 cells developed after exposure to 10(-6) to 10(-9) M PMA, and significant target cell lysis occurred at effector:target cell ratios as low as 0.5:1. The PMA-induced HL-60-mediated cytotoxic response was markedly inhibited by blockers of protein synthesis, inhibition of microfilament function, and depletion of cellular superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, cytotoxicity of HL-60 cells for chicken erythrocyte targets was modulated by the direct addition of certain simple saccharides to the assay in a fashion similar to that observed with spontaneously cytotoxic mononuclear cells from several vertebrate and invertebrate species. Thus, the cytolytic effector function induced in HL-60 cells by incubation with PMA presents a useful model for the study of cellular cytotoxic mechanisms as well as the mechanisms utilized by nonimmune cells in the recognition of non-self.