Feline hybridoma growth factor/interleukin-6 activity.

An assay system was developed to measure feline hybridoma growth factor (HGF)/interleukin-6 (IL-6) activity in biological samples containing many kinds of cytokines by using the proliferation of the newly established mouse-rat hybridoma clone, B3B1. The proliferative response of this B3B1 clone was IL-6-specific, and could not be promoted by other cytokines including IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, and granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). The anti-human B-cell stimulatory factor 2 (BSF-2)/IL-6 antiserum did not neutralize feline HGF/IL-6 activity in conditioned media prepared from feline con A-stimulated splenocytes and unstimulated alveolar macrophages, indicating antigenic differences between species. Feline HGF/IL-6 was eluted into the fractions corresponding to a molecular weight of 30,000-40,000 in gel filtration, and into the fractions at a salt concentration of 0.2-0.3 M NaCl in anion exchange chromatography. The physicochemical properties of feline HGF/IL-6 were slightly different from those of murine and human IL-6.