The HL-60 cell line is a human

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

cell line that has been used for laboratory research on blood cell formation and physiology. HL-60 proliferates continuously in suspension

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

in nutrient and antibiotic chemicals. The doubling time is about 36–48 hours. The cell line was derived from a 36-year-old woman who was originally reported to have acute promyelocytic leukemia at the

MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

. HL-60 cells predominantly show

neutrophil Neutrophils (also known as neutrocytes or heterophils) are the most abundant type of granulocytes and make up 40% to 70% of all white blood cells in humans. They form an essential part of the innate immune system, with their functions varying ...

ic promyelocytic morphology. Subsequent evaluation, including the karyotype that showed absence of the defining t(15;17) translocation, concluded that HL-60 cells are from a case of AML FAB-M2 (now referred to as AML with maturation (WHO)). Proliferation of HL-60 cells occurs through the

transferrin Transferrins are glycoproteins found in vertebrates which bind to and consequently mediate the transport of iron (Fe) through blood plasma. They are produced in the liver and contain binding sites for two Fe3+ ions. Human transferrin is encode ...

and insulin receptors, which are expressed on cell surface. The requirement for insulin and transferrin is absolute, as HL-60 proliferation immediately ceases if either of these compounds is removed from the serum-free culture media. With this line, differentiation to mature

granulocytes Granulocytes are cells in the innate immune system characterized by the presence of specific granules in their cytoplasm. Such granules distinguish them from the various agranulocytes. All myeloblastic granulocytes are polymorphonuclear. They ha ...

can be induced by compounds such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), or

retinoic acid Retinoic acid (used simplified here for all-''trans''-retinoic acid) is a metabolite of vitamin A1 (all-''trans''-retinol) that mediates the functions of vitamin A1 required for growth and development. All-''trans''-retinoic acid is required in ...

. Other compounds like 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and

GM-CSF Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), also known as colony-stimulating factor 2 (CSF2), is a monomeric glycoprotein secreted by macrophages, T cells, mast cells, natural killer cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts tha ...

can induce HL-60 to differentiate to monocytic, macrophage-like and

eosinophil Eosinophils, sometimes called eosinophiles or, less commonly, acidophils, are a variety of white blood cells (WBCs) and one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites and certain infections in vertebrates. A ...

phenotypes, respectively. The HL-60 cultured cell line provides a continuous source of human cells for studying the molecular events of myeloid differentiation and the effects of physiologic, pharmacologic, and virologic elements on this process. HL-60 cell model was used to study the effect of

DNA topoisomerase DNA topoisomerases (or topoisomerases) are enzymes that catalyze changes in the topological state of DNA, interconverting relaxed and supercoiled forms, linked (catenated) and unlinked species, and knotted and unknotted DNA. Topological issues i ...

(topo) IIα and IIβ on differentiation and apoptosis of cells and is especially useful in dielectrophoresis studies, which require an aqueous environment with suspended and round cells. Furthermore, these cells have been used in order to investigate whether intracellular

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...

plays a role in caspase activation induced by

reactive oxygen species In chemistry, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive chemicals formed from diatomic oxygen (). Examples of ROS include peroxides, superoxide, hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen, and alpha-oxygen. The reduction of molecular oxygen () p ...

. Chromatin and gene expression profiling in HL-60 cells and differentiated cells derived from these has been performed recently.

References

External links

Cellosaurus entry for HL60
{{Commons category, HL-60 cells Human cell lines