Effects of natural beta-interferon and recombinant alpha-2B-interferon on proliferation, glucocorticoid receptor content, and antigen expression in cultured HL-60 cells

In the current study, we investigated the effects of natural beta-interferon (β-IFN) and recombinant alpha-2b-interferon (α-IFN) on the growth of the HL-60 cell line. Cells cultured in a medium that contains various concentrations (from 10 to 1000 IU/ml) of interferons showed a growth inhibition, which reaches the maximum after a 6-day treatment, at the highest dose used. Furthermore, we studied the effect of both β-IFN and α-IFN on the level of glucocorticoid receptors. This was enhanced more than 30% with respect to control in HL-60 cells exposed for 24 hours to concentrations of β-IFN that ranged from 100 to 1000 IU/ml. The increase of the receptor amount was seen even if cells were treated for 5 days, and was not accompanied by a modification of antigen expression of HL-60 cells. α-IFN did not modify the glucocorticoid receptor level substantially in our experimental conditions. Our data indicate that both β-IFN and α-IFN regulate HL-60 cell proliferation. Additional studies are required to clarify if modifications of the receptor level induced by β-IFN could be related to the modulation of hormone-sensitivity in this model.