Production and Characterization of Migration Inhibitory Factor(s) (MIF) of Established Lymphoid and Non-Lymphoid Cell Lines

Lymphoid cells from established human lymphoid suspension cultures migrate in vitro like guinea pig peritoneal macrophages. Used as indicator cells in the capillary migration technique, these cultured cells appear to be more sensitive than guinea pig peritoneal macrophages to migration inhibitory products. Human lymphoid cell line supernatants contain a factor(s) which inhibits the migration of guinea pig peritoneal macrophages and the cultured lymphoid cells. A number of non-lymphoid cell lines including HeLa, human embryonic lung, rat thymus and malignant hamster brain tumor, were found to contain similar migration inhibitory factor (MIF)-like activity in their supernatants. The MIF derived from the supernatants of a human lymphoid (SWB-46A) and a human non-lymphoid (HeLa) cell line were characterized and compared. The MIF produced by these cell lines were found in the present studies to be similar in many respects including: a) inhibition of cultured human lymphoid cell migration by crude supernatants, b) peak inhibitory activities in the same fractions (m.w. 10,000 to 30,000) following separation by ultrafiltration, c) similar elution profiles from Sephadex G-50 (peak inhibitory activity elutes between enzyme markers of m. w. 12,400 and 25,000), d) non-dialyzability and e) heat stability at 56°C for 30 min. The similarity found in the properties of these MIF suggests that migration inhibitory factor is not solely a lymphoid product.