SECRETION OF TNF-ALPHA FROM MACROPHAGES FOLLOWING INDUCTION WITH A LIGNIN DERIVATIVE

Macrophages derived from rat bone marrow were treated with macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) to obtain a sufficient number of cel ls for the tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) assay. The present study has been designed to investigate whether the production of TNF-alpha, which induces multinucleated giant cell formation, is regulated by pol yanions such as lignin derivatives. ELISA for TNF-alpha showed that th e polyanion induced TNF-alpha production by macrophages. The secretion of TNF-alpha from the cells reached a maximum at 3-6 h, and then show ed a slight decline. Northern blotting of TNF-alpha mRNA showed that t he amount of TNF-alpha reached a maximum within 1 h of macrophage cult ure in the presence of a lignin derivative. On the other hand, TNF-alp ha mRNA was undetectable in the control cells. It was concluded that s timuli such as that provided by lignin derivatives increases the amoun t of TNF-alpha mRNA, which is then followed by translation of TNF-alph a.