Separation of macrophages on discontinuous bovine serum albumin (BSA) density gradients: cytotoxic effects of fractionated cells from normal donors and cancer patients.

Human monocytes from normal donors as well as breast or colon cancer patients were fractionated on five-step discontinuous bovine serum albumin (BSA) density gradients, and the monocytes from each fraction were allowed to mature into macrophages during a 5 day incubation period. The macrophages were then examined both for their ability to kill tumor cells after activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the quantity of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesized. When the macrophages obtained from normal donors were fractionated, fractions 2 and 4 which comprised 58% of the total cell population, were cytotoxic for tumor cells. In contrast, when the macrophages from breast cancer patients were fractionated, only the high density cells found in fraction 4 were cytotoxic. It is also conceivable that since fraction 4 comprises only 26% of the total macrophages recovered, this may be the reason unfractionated macrophages from breast cancer patients are unable to kill tumor cells. When the colon cancer patients' macrophages were fractionated on BSA density gradients, fractions 1, 2 and 4, which comprised 79% of the total cell population, were cytotoxic for tumor cells. Prostaglandin E2 synthesis was also analyzed and it was found that fraction 3 consistently synthesized increased quantities of PGE2 when compared with the other three fractions. Furthermore, since fraction 3 was non-cytotoxic for tumor cells, it is conceivable that the increased synthesis of PGE2 by fraction 3 rendered these macrophages non-cytotoxic.