Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL) induces phenotypic and functional characteristics of macrophages in THP-1 cells and human monocytes

•RBL induced macrophage differentiation in human monocytes and THP-1 cell line.•RBL enhanced activation markers, cytokine secretion and phagocytic activity.•RBL stimulation mimics the combined effect of PMA and LPS in THP-1 cells.•RBL induces MMP-9 activity in THP-1 cells.•NF-κB pathway plays an important role in RBL-induced differentiation.

We have previously reported that a fungal lectin, Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), stimulates proliferation and secretion of Th1/Th2 cytokines in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In the present study, we evaluated the ability of RBL to differentiate human monocytes to macrophages. RBL induced morphological changes indicative of differentiation in primary monocytes and THP-1 cells. Stimulation with RBL resulted in significant up-regulation of differentiation markers – CD54, HLA-DR, CD11b and CD11c and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines – IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6. Functionally, RBL profoundly increased phagocytic activity in monocytes. In THP-1 cells, RBL-induced phagocytosis was higher compared to the effect induced by combination of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). RBL induced a significant increase in matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity in comparison with a combined treatment of PMA + LPS. Mechanistic studies revealed the involvement of the NF-κB pathway in RBL-induced differentiation of monocytes. The data suggest that RBL mimics the combined action of PMA and LPS to induce morphological and functional differentiation in human monocytes and monocytic cell line – THP-1 to macrophages. Human monocytes differentiated to macrophages with RBL have the potential as an in vitro model to study macrophage biology.