Effect of cytokines on growth of a mouse hybridoma cell line and its antibody production

Three cytokines, interleukin 6 (IL-6), leukemia inhibitory factor(LIF), and oncostatin M (OSM), that bind to composite receptors including a common signal transducer gp130 suppressed growth of a mouse B-cell hybridoma cell line 2E3-O cultured in serum-free medium, while they enhanced antibody production of the cells. The specific growth rate of the cells reduced from 1.0 day(-1) for control to 0.6 day(-1) for the cultures supplemented with 1 ng/ml of IL-6, 4ng/ml of LIF, or 20ng/ml of OSM, respectively. The antibody productivity increased five-fold when the cells were cultured with 1ng/ml of IL-6, 25ng/ml of LIF, or 20ng/ml of OSM, respectively. Transforming growth factor beta I (TGF- beta 1) similarly suppressed growth of the cells at the concentration of 5 ng/ml, while it did not enhance the antibody production. As a whole, this work suggests that gp-130, which is commonly involved in each receptor for IL-6, LIF, and OSM, transduce signals for suppressing growth and possibly for enhancing antibody production in the hybridoma cells.