M. Watanabe et al., INTRACELLULAR MULTIPLICATION OF LEGIONELLA-PNEUMOPHILA IN HL-60 CELLSDIFFERENTIATED BY 1,25-DIHYDROXYVITAMIN-D3 AND THE EFFECT OF INTERFERON-GAMMA, Journal of leukocyte biology, 54(1), 1993, pp. 40-46
We examined leukemic cells, HL-60, an acute promyelocytic leukemia cel
l line, after differentiation induced by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (D3)
and retinoic acid (A) for infection of Legionella pneumophila, the et
iologic agent of Legionnaires' disease. We investigated the effect of
interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) on the differentiated cells and on the in
tracellular growth of the bacteria. An examination of morphological an
d antigenic changes in the cells was also included in the study. After
4-day incubation with 10(-6)M D3 or A, the HL-60 cells differentiated
into monocyte-like (D3-HL-60) or mature granulocyte-like (A-HL-60) ce
lls, respectively. They were then infected with L. pneumophila. Intrac
ellular multiplication of the bacteria was evident in D3-HL-60 cells b
ut not in HL-60 or A-HL-60 cells. D3-HL-60 cells required a 24-h infec
tion time for the intracellular growth of L. pneumophila. D3-HL-60 cel
ls activated with human recombinant IFN-gamma for 1-24 h (gamma-IFN-D3
-HL-60 cells) before infection markedly inhibited L. pneumophila multi
plication, the effect of IFN-gamma being dose dependent. Surface marke
r analysis was carried out in HL-60, D3-HL-60, and gamma-IFN-D3-HL-60
cells. On D3-HL-60 cells, CD11b, CD11c, CD14, and CD35 antigen increas
ed, whereas CD71 and HLA-DR antigen decreased. This finding suggested
that HL-60 cells differentiated into monocyte-like cells; the acquisit
ion of the complement receptors, CD11b(CR3) and CD35(CR1), seemed to b
e important for phagocytosis and for the subsequent intracellular mult
iplication of L. pneumophila. The gamma-IFN-D3-HL60 cells showed an in
crease of CD16, CD36, CD71, and HLA-DR antigen, suggesting that they w
ere in an activated state. Our study indicated, first, that D3 can ind
uce human leukemic cells to differentiate into functional monocyte-mac
rophage-like cells that can support the intracellular multiplication o
f L. pneumophila and, second, that these differentiated leukemic cells
can be activated by IFN-gamma to markedly inhibit bacterial growth.