ADF (adult T-cell leukemia-derived factor), an inducer of IL-2R with growth promoting activity, is a homologue of thioredoxin which is involved in many thiol-dependent reducing reactions. ADF is constitutively produced and released by human lymphoid cell lines transformed by lymphocyte-tropic viruses, such as human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). We found that the viability and growth of these ADF high-producer cell lines (ATL-2, HUT102, MT-2, 3B6 and RPM18866) were highly dependent on L-cystine in the culture. In contrast to the relative cystine independency of ADF low-producer cells (Jurkat, Jijoye, U937 and K562), the growth of ADF high-producer cells was almost completely suppressed in L-cystine-free condition. Their viability and growth in L-cystine-free medium were markedly improved by 5 x 10(-5) M L-cysteine, 5 x 10(-5) M 2-ME or 10(-3) M GSH and partially by 10(-3) M DTT. The results demonstrate the requirement of reducing condition involving thiol compounds for the optimal growth of the virally transformed lymphoid cells. Furthermore, recombinant ADF (rADF) and suboptimal dose of 2-ME additively enhanced the growth of ATL-2 cells in L-cystine-free medium, implying the possible involvement of endogenous reducing agents such as ADF/thioredoxin homologue in the process of lymphocyte transformation/activation.