Proliferative and functional aspects of interferon-treated human normal and neoplastic T and B cells

Previous studies have shown that normal as well as neoplastic B-cell lines vary substantially in their response to the antiproliferative effects of human interferon (HIF). In this study we took advantage of a recent method to generate long-term continuous normal T-cell cultures (CTC) to investigate the effects of HIF on proliferating lymphoid cells. Normal CTC proved to be resistant to inhibition of proliferation; up to 1000 u HIF had little effect on [3H] TdR uptake, and up to 2000 u HIF had little effect on cell-cycle progression, measured by flow cytometry. Proliferating normal B cells were also resistant to the antiproliferative effect. Nor did up to 500 m HIF inhibit RNA synthesis or immunoglobulin biosynthesis of normal B cells. In contrast, a neoplastic myeloma B cell, a Burkitt's lymphoma cell and a neoplastic leukaemic T cell showed marked inhibition of [3H] TdR uptake and cell cycle progression with as little as 5 u HIF. These results suggest that amounts of HIF sufficient to inhibit proliferation of some neoplastic lymphoid cells have little effect on T- and B-cell proliferation and differentiation of normal B lymphocytes.