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Retinoic acid, which induces the differentiation of HL 60 cells to granulocytes, produces a cell alkalinization from pHi = 7.03 to pHi = 7.37. The half-maximum effect of retinoic acid is observed at 10 nM. The effect of retinoic acid on the pHi develops slowly, and it precedes the differentiation of the cells. A cell alkalinization is also observed after differentiation of the cells by dimethyl sulfoxide. It is not observed using etretinate, a synthetic retinoid that does not promote the differentiation of HL 60 cells. Two pHi regulating mechanisms coexist in HL 60 cells. The Na+/H+ exchange system is the major mechanism that allows HL 60 cells to recover from an intracellular acidosis. A second mechanism is a Na-HCO3 cotransport system. During differentiation of the cells by retinoic acid, a 2-fold increase in the activity of the Na+/H+ exchange system is observed, while the activity of the NaHCO3 cotransport remains constant. The properties of interaction of the Na+/H+ exchanger with internal H+, external Na+, and Li+ as well as with amiloride and its derivatives are defined. The Na+/H+ exchanger of HL 60 cells is characterized by unusually low affinities for alkali cations and a high affinity for amiloride and its derivatives. The pHi dependence of the exchanger is not modified after differentiation by retinoic acid. It is concluded that the mechanism of activation of the Na+/H+ exchanger by retinoic acid is distinct from the short-term effect produced by mitogens and phorbol esters which change the pHi dependence of the system.

When HL-60 cells were induced to differentiate into granulocyte-like cells by culture in the presence of 1.3% dimethyl sulfoxide, an increase in the rate of ouabain-sensitive 86Rb transport was observed during the first 6 h followed by a constant decrease which became stable on day 4 at about 40% of control level. By contrast, the number of ouabain binding sites remained constant during the first 24 h then decreased with the same kinetics as that of the 86Rb transport rate. These results suggest that alterations in ionic fluxes, through activation of the sodium pump, are part of the early events resulting in HL-60 cell differentiation.

The effect of PMA (phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate) on PPI-pde (polyphosphoinositide phosphodiesterase) activity in the promyelocytic cell-line HL60 was examined. HL60 cells were pretreated with PMA in a time- and concentration-dependent manner and PPI-pde activity was monitored both in streptolysin O-permeabilized cells and in membranes. PPI-pde activity was stimulated by either GTP gamma S (guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate), fluoride or Ca2+. Both the Ca2(+)-stimulated and the G protein-mediated PPI-pde activity in permeabilized HL60 cells is maximally inhibited (70-90%) after 60 min pretreatment of intact cells with 10nM PMA. PPI-pde activity can also be observed in membranes prepared from HL60 cells although this activity represents only 10% of the total activity seen in permeabilized cells. In membranes, where PPI-pde activity can also be stimulated by either via the G-protein or directly by Ca2+, PMA pretreatment was also inhibitory regardless of the mode of activation. We suggest that both the membrane-bound PPI-pde activity and that present in the permeabilized cells are targets for protein phosphorylation by protein kinase C leading to inhibition of the catalytic function.

A membrane protein of M. W. 32,000 D and pI 5 has been purified from EDTA-treated plasma membrane supernatants by Page without detergents. These membranes are purified from the MF2S cell line issued from the murine plasmacytoma MOPC 173. The purified protein was able to induce a 300 fold increase in the Na+/K+ ATPase resistance to ouabaïn thus mimicking the original resistance of the enzyme to the drug.