Induction of HL-60 differentiation by starvation for a single essential amino acid but not by protein synthesis inhibitors.

Starvation for a single essential amino acid induced differentiation of the human promyelocytic leukemia line HL-60 into morphologically and functionally mature granulocytes. Differentiation occurred when protein synthesis was inhibited up to 90% but was not simply secondary to growth arrest or protein synthesis inhibition, because neither glucose starvation nor treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors induced differentiation. Induction of differentiation by an aminoacyl tRNA synthetase inhibitor and the effect of cycloheximide and puromycin on amino acid-starved cells suggested an important regulatory role of tRNA molecules during differentiation.