We have investigated the roles of retinoic acid receptors in the development of neutrophils by using an interleukin 3-dependent multipotent hematopoietic cell line (FDCP mix A4) as well as normal mouse bone marrow cells. Treatment of the FDCP mix A4 cells with murine granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) induced these cells to differentiate into neutrophils and macrophages. When the endogenous retinoic acid receptor activity in FDCP mix A4 cells was suppressed by a dominant negative retinoic acid receptor construct, this GM-CSF-induced neutrophil differentiation was blocked at the promyelocyte stage. The blocked promyelocytes proliferated continuously as a GM-CSF-dependent cell line but could be induced to terminally differentiate into neutrophils with supraphysiological concentrations of all-trans-retinoic acid (1-10 microM). The ability of the dominant negative retinoic acid receptor to block neutrophil differentiation at the promyelocyte stage was also demonstrated in normal, primary mouse bone marrow cells. Our results indicate that retinoic acid receptors in conjunction with hematopoietic growth factors play a crucial role in the terminal differentiation of normal neutrophil precursors. The system described here may also serve as a model for studying the pathogenesis of human acute promyelocytic leukemia.