We examined 10 different
melanoma cell lines for cellular expression and release of
ICAM-1 (CD54) and
LFA-3 (CD58) and the influence of
cytokines, including IFN alpha, IFN gamma and
TNF alpha. Cellular
ICAM-1 expression and density varies considerably between the
melanoma cell lines. While IFN alpha has no effect on cellular
ICAM-1 (cICAM-1) expression, IFN gamma and to a lesser extent
TNF alpha can effectively up-regulate cICAM-1. Soluble
ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) is detected in the supernatants of all lines tested, release of sICAM-1 correlates with cellular expression.
LFA-3 does not much differ in its expression level on
melanoma lines, and
cytokines have little or no effect on its expression. Soluble
LFA-3 is released by only 6 out of 10 lines. Its release can effectively be inhibited by IFN gamma in all lines and by
TNF alpha in one, while IFN alpha has no effect. These data show that expression and release of
LFA-3 and
ICAM-1 differ between
melanoma cell lines. This may be of importance for the interaction of
melanoma cells with immune effector cells in vivo.