Role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) in peripheral blood mononuclear cell activation by human renal carcinoma cells.

We examined the role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) during the activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by the human renal carcinoma cell line CaKi-1. ICAM-1 antigen expression was induced on CaKi-1 cells by incubation with either phorbol-12-myristate 13 acetate (PMA) or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). Following a thorough washout of PMA and IFN-gamma and subsequent paraformaldehyde fixation, CaKi-1 cell monolayers were cocultered with allogenic PBMCs. While PMA-treated CaKi-1 cells induced PBMC proliferation and interleukin-2 receptor antigen expression, this was not the case for control or IFN-gamma-treated CaKi-1 cells. Furthermore, the induced PBMC proliferation was inhibited by specific monoclonal antibodies against ICAM-1 and LFA-1. Finally, although PMA induced human leukocyte antigen (HL)-A, B, C antigen expression on CaKi-1 cells, a monoclonal antibody against this antigen did not inhibit PBMC proliferation. We conclude that PMA can modulate CaKi-1 cells to stimulate allogenic PBMC proliferation in an ICAM-1/LFA-1 dependent, but HLA-A, B, C-independent, fashion. This stimulation might reside in the long-term activation of protein kinase C, induced by PMA.