Interleukin-HP1, a T cell-derived hybridoma growth factor that supports the in vitro growth of murine plasmacytomas.

We have recently described the purification and NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of a T cell-derived hybridoma growth factor that was provisionally designated interleukin-HP1 (IL-HP1). Here we report that a T cell supernatant containing high titers of this hybridoma growth factor considerably facilitated the establishment of primary cultures of murine plasmacytomas. Most plasmacytoma cell lines derived from such cultures remained permanently dependent on IL-HP1-containing T cell supernatant for both survival and growth in vitro. These cell lines, however, retained their ability to form tumors in irradiated pristane-treated mice. Analytical fractionation of a T cell supernatant rich in IL-HP1 by either gel filtration, isoelectric focusing, or reversed-phase HPLC revealed the existence of only one plasmacytoma growth factor activity that strictly copurified with IL-HP1, strongly suggesting the identity of both factors. This conclusion was further supported by the finding that IL-HP1 purified to homogeneity supported the growth of both B cell hybridomas and plasmacytomas. For half-maximal growth, plasmacytomas, however, required a concentration of IL-HP1 of approximately 30 pM, which is approximately 200 times higher than that required by B cell hybridomas. A clear difference in the specificity of IL-HP1 and B cell stimulatory factor 1 (BSF-1) was demonstrated by the finding that IL-HP1-dependent plasmacytomas did not survive in the presence of BSF-1, whereas helper T cell lines that proliferated in the presence of BSF-1 failed to respond to IL-HP1.