Treatment of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells with dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (dbcAMP) induced these cells to differentiate toward mature neutrophilic granulocytes (PMN). DbcAMP was found to produce a rapid time- and dose-dependent inhibition of HL-60 cell proliferation, reaching a maximum after 48 hr treatment of the cells with 250-500 microM. This was associated with morphologic alterations consistent with maturing PMN. Using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry, we found that dbcAMP-treated HL-60 cells expressed some, but not all, surface markers characteristic of mature phagocytes. Thus receptors for the chemotactic peptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP); the monocyte/granulocyte markers My-8, Mo-1, and Leu-15; as well as the monocyte markers Mo-2 and My-4 were identified on the cells. In contrast, dbcAMP-treated cells did not express the PMN-specific antigen DL1.2. We also found that dbcAMP-treated HL-60 cells produced hydrogen peroxide in response to the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). However, the magnitude of this response was significantly less than that observed in mature PMN. In contrast, fMLP-stimulated levels of hydrogen peroxide production were comparable in both cell types. In addition, despite the fact that dbcAMP-treated cells expressed fMLP receptors, they did not exhibit directed migration toward this chemotactic peptide. Taken together, these data suggest that dbcAMP-induced differentiation of HL-60 cells is incomplete.