Production of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor by human T-lymphotropic virus type I-infected human glioma cells.

We investigated the production of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected human glioma cells (KG-1-C and T98G). When glioma cells were co-cultured with HTLV-I-producing T cell lines (HCT-1 and MT-2), GM-CSF was detected in the culture supernatant. GM-CSF was produced in all the co-cultures even after several passages. In co-cultures of KG-1-C and HCT-1 cells with Millicell, the amount of GM-CSF produced in the supernatant was almost as low as in the culture of HCT-1 alone. Moreover, for co-cultures of KG-1-C and HCT-1 or MT-2 cells, the production of GM-CSF was significantly suppressed in the presence of IgG from patients with HAM. Double-label immunostaining showed that GM-CSF-producing glioma cells always were stained by a monoclonal antibody against HTLV-I p19, indicating that HTLV-I infection of glioma cells caused GM-CSF production. These data suggest that human glial cells infected with HTLV-I gain the ability to produce cytokines.