Leukemic cell products down-regulate human dendritic cell differentiation

The microenvironment produced by solid tumors is inhibitory to the immune system, inducing dendritic cell (DC) alterations, but there is a paucity of information regarding haematological malignances. The aim of this study was to investigate DC differentiation under the influence of leukemic cell products. Monocytes from healthy volunteers were cultured in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF for the generation of immature DCs. Supernatants from leukemic cultures were added to monocyte cultures during differentiation. The lineages used were K562, a chronic myeloid leukemia, HL-60, a promyelocytic leukemia and DAUDI, originated from Burkitt lymphoma. It was observed that the expression of CD14 remained high and the CD1a was low in the presence of tumor supernatants, while non-malignant supernatants did not affect these parameters. Furthermore, IL-1β and TNF-α production by monocytes during differentiation was increased by the presence of tumor supernatants. The modifications on CD14 and CD1a expressions could be mimicked by the addition of exogenous IL-1β and partially inhibited by the neutralization of IL-1β. These results suggest that soluble products from leukemic cells interfere with DC differentiation and, in the present work, this effect could be mediated by monocyte-derived IL-1β in response to tumor supernatants.