U937 cells are a model cell line used in biomedical research. They were isolated from the histiocytic lymphoma of a 37-year-old male patient and are used to study the behaviour and differentiation of monocytes. U937 cells mature and differentiate in response to a number of soluble stimuli, adopting the morphology and characteristics of mature macrophages.
U937 cells are of the myeloid lineage and so secrete a large number of cytokines and chemokines either constitutively (e.g. IL-1 and GM-CSF) or in response to soluble stimuli. TNFα and recombinant GM-CSF independently promote IL-10 production in U937 cells.
The HLA alleles present in U937 cells are HLA-A*03:01, A*31:01, B*18:01, B*51:01, Cw*01:02 and Cw*07:02.