Microbial extracellular glycolipid induction of differentiation and inhibition of the protein kinase C activity of human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL60.

The biological activities of 7 microbial extracellular glycolipids including mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL)-A, MEL-B, polyol lipid (PL), rhamnolipid (RL), sophorose lipid (SL), succinoyl trehalose lipid (STL)-1, and STL-3 were investigated. All glycolipids except for RL were found to induce cell differentiation instead of cell proliferation in the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL60. To identify the differentiation direction of the induced cells, the leukocyte esterase activities were cytologically investigated, and the results showed that MEL-A, MEL-B, and PL induced HL60 to differentiate into granulocytes, while SL, STL-1, and STL-3 induced differentiation into monocytes. The 6 effective glycolipids also increased nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reducing ability, which is a common differentiation-associated characteristic in monocytes and granulocytes. Furthermore, it was also observed that these 6 glycolipids inhibited the activity of phospholipid- and Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase. Additionally, the 6 effective glycolipids also induced the human myelogenous leukemia cell line K562 and the human basophilic leukemia cell line KU812 to differentiate into monocytes, granulocytes, and megakaryocytes.