ArticlePloS one2018
Comparative genotypic and phenotypic analysis of human peripheral blood monocytes and surrogate monocyte-like cell lines commonly used in metabolic disease research.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Culture density influences the functional phenotype of human macrophages.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Influence of Bone Substitutes on Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in an Inflammatory Microenvironment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Differential susceptibility to lipopolysaccharide affects the activation of toll-like-receptor 4 signaling in THP-1 cells and PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells.Innate immunity · 2022Article
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- Generation and characterization of U937-TR: a platform cell line for inducible gene expression in human macrophages.Parasitology · 2020Article
- Specific TLR4 Blocking Effect of a Novel 3,4-Dihydropyrimidinone Derivative.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Article
- A THP-1 Cell Line-Based Exploration of Immune Responses Toward Heat-Treated BLG.Frontiers in nutrition · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Monocyte-like cell lines (MCLCs), including THP-1, HL-60 and U-937 cells, are used routinely as surrogates for isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). To systematically evaluate these immortalised cells and PBMCs as model systems to study inflammation relevant to the pathogenesis of type II diabetes and immuno-metabolism, we compared mRNA expression of inflammation-relevant genes, cell surface expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers, and chemotactic responses to inflammatory stimuli. Messenger RNA expression analysis suggested most genes were present at similar levels across all undifferentiated cells, though notably, IDO1, which encodes for indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and catabolises tryptophan to kynureninase (shown to be elevated in serum from diabetic patients), was not expressed in any PMA-treated MCLC, but present in GM-CSF-treated PBMCs. There was little overall difference in the pattern of expression of CD markers across all cells, though absolute expression levels varied considerably and the correlation between MCLCs and PBMCs was improved upon MCLC differentiation. Functionally, THP-1 and PBMCs migrated in response to chemoattractants in a transwell assay, with varying sensitivity to MCP-1, MIP-1α and LTB-4. However, despite similar gene and CD expression profiles, U-937 cells were functionally impaired as no migration was observed to any chemoattractant. Our analysis reveals that the MCLCs examined only partly replicate the genotypic and phenotypic properties of human PBMCs. To overcome such issues a universal differentiation protocol should be implemented for these cell lines, similar to those already used with isolated monocytes. Although not perfect, in our hands the THP-1 cells represent the closest, simplified surrogate model of PBMCs for study of inflammatory cell migration.
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