Production of a colony-stimulating factor following differentiation of leukemic myleoblasts to macrophages.

Leukemic cells in the myeloblastic stage from a murine myeloid leukemia cell line (M1) were induced to differentiate to macrophages by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria. A granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF) was produced only during differentiation. After induction of differentiation, the continued presence of LPS was necessary to stimulate the macrophages to release CSF. In contrast, a macrophage cell line (Mm-1) derived from the M1 line produced CSF without LPS-stimulation, but CSF release was stimulated by the presence of LPS.