Stimulation of growth of Nb2 lymphoma cells by interleukin-2 in serum-free and serum-containing media.

The human recombinant alanine-125 analogue of interleukin-2 (IL-2) causes a dose-dependent mitogenic response in rat lymphoma Nb2-11C cloned cells when tested in serum-containing medium and serum-free medium. IL-2 and hGH elicit their growth stimulation through different receptors since IL-2 does not compete with 125I-hGH for binding to Nb2 cells and Met14hGH, an antagonist of hGH, inhibits the hGH-stimulated growth of Nb2 cells but not that caused by IL-2. The tumor promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) potentiates the action of hGH on Nb2 cells grown in both serum-containing and in serum-free medium. TPA to a variable degree also potentiates IL-2-stimulated growth of Nb2 cells when cultured in medium containing serum but has no effect on cells grown in serum-free medium. In conclusion, IL-2 is a potent mitogen for Nb2-11C cells.