概要：The U937 cell line was derived from the pleural effusion of a patient with generalized histiocytic lymphoma cells and established in 1976 by Sundstom et al.
The histiocytic origin of the cell line was shown by its capacity for lysozyme production and the strong esterase activity (naphtol AS-D acetate esterase inhibited by NaF) of the cells.
The U937 cells are often used to study monocyte-endothelium attachment, response to inflammatory gene expression and NF-?B activity.
Retinoids, Vitamin D3, and TPA differentiate U937 cells into monocytes or macrophages, whereas dendritic cell-like morphology is induced with the peptide Ep1.B from apolipoprotein E.
U937 cells grow in suspension and have a doubling time of between 48 and 72 hours.
THP-1 cells are derived from blood leukemia and are more immature than U937 cells, which are derived from tissue.
In addition, it is known that U937 cells carry the t(10|11)(p13|q14) translocation, which results in the fusion of the MLLT10 gene and the PICALM gene, believed to be essential for the tumorigenic nature of the cell line.
