Mv. Blagosklonny et Lm. Neckers, SENSITIVE AND SIMPLE BIOASSAY FOR HUMAN TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA, European cytokine network, 4(4), 1993, pp. 279-283
A simple, sensitive, and specific in vitro bioassay is described for h
uman tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). The system employs the
U937 cell line incubated with 10 ng/ml actinomycin D for maximum sensi
tivity. This method allows the detection of less than 0.6 pg/ml of TNF
-alpha and the log dose-response curve is linear at concentrations 0.6
-250 pg/ml TNF-alpha. Highly sensitive subclones of U937 were obtained
which were capable of detecting as little as 0.1 pg/ml TNF-alpha. Fin
ally, this bioassay demonstrates specificity by discriminating between
TNF-alpha and TNF-beta.