Methods like PMA Activation

What does PMA stand for?

Phorbol 12-Myristate 13-Acetate (Party Maker Arrives)

What does PMA activate?

PKC (Protein Kinase C) (Party Kickoff Coordinator) - PMA gives PKC a huge energizing hug, causing it to run around phosphorylating everything to start the differentiation party!

How long does the differentiation party last, and why do the hosts need a rest period?

48 hours of partying followed by 24 hours of rest in PMA-free medium. The rest period lets the newly transformed "party hosts" calm down and reduce background activation artifacts.

What changes happen when sleepy THP-1 students become "Mature Party Hosts"?

They become:

Sticky (adherent to surfaces)

Spread out (morphological changes)

Chatty (enhanced cytokine production TNF-alpha or IL-1β)

Hungry (increased phagocytic activity)

Dressed (Surface marker CD11b and CD14)

Complete the memory phrase: "PMA = '' arrives, PKC = '', THP-1 = '____'"

PMA = "Party Maker Arrives"

PKC = "Party Kickoff Coordinator

THP-1 = "TiredHumans become Party hosts in 1 night" (well, 2 nights plus 1 rest night!)

CD11b

part of a protein complex (Mac-1 or CR3) that’s involved in adhesion and migration of leukocytes, so when THP-1 cells differentiate into macrophages, CD11b expression usually goes up.

Mac-1

(also known as CR3, or CD11b/CD18) is part of the complement system, specifically as a complement receptor. It binds to iC3b, a cleavage product of complement component C3b. This allows phagocytes to recognize and engulf opsonized pathogens — a critical step in clearing microbes.

CD14

a co-receptor for LPS with TLR4 leads to activation of NF-κB pathway and the MAP kinase pathway, which includes ERK, JNK, and p38