Abstract
STUDIES of the regulation of human erythropoiesis and haemoglobin synthesis at different phases of development are hampered by the lack of a self-sustaining culture in which erythroid differentiation can be examined, and by difficulties in obtaining erythropoietic tissue in embryonic and early fetal life1. New insights into the regulation of murine erythropoiesis have been obtained by the study of established cultures of erythro-leukaemic cells (Friend cells) which can be induced to differentiate in vitro2. Recently, Andersson et al. 3,4 have reported that the K562 human cell line, obtained from a patient with an acute transformation of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) has properties in common with erythroid cells. In particular, cells of this line contain glycophorin and spectrin in their membranes and synthesise minute amounts of haemoglobin, detectable by radioimmunoassay. We have investigated the capacity of these cells to differentiate in vitro and report here that they are induced by haemin to synthesise large amounts of haemoglobin; preliminary analysis indicates that this is predominantly of the embryonic type.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wood, W. G., Clegg, J. B. & Weatherall, D. J. Prog. Hemat. 10, 43–90 (1977).
Harrison, P. R. Nature 262, 353–356 (1976).
Andersson, L. C., Nilsson, K. & Gahmberg, C. G. Int. J. Cancer 23, 143–147 (1979).
Andersson, L. C., Jokinen, M. & Gahmberg, C. G. Nature 278, 364–365 (1979).
Rutherford, T. R. & Weatherall, D. J. Cell 16, 415–423 (1979).
Weatherall, D. J. & Clegg, J. B. The Thalasssemia Syndromes, 2nd edn (Blackwell, Oxford, 1972).
Capp, G. L., Rigas, D. A. & Jones, R. T. Nature 228, 278–280 (1970).
Huehns, E. R., Dance, N., Beaven, G. H., Hecht, F. & Motulsky, A. G. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 19, 327–331 (1964).
Gale, R. E., Clegg, J. B. & Huehns, E. R. Nature 280, 162–164 (1979).
Pataryas, H. A. & Stamatoyannopoulos, G. Blood 39, 688–696 (1972).
Clegg, J. B., Naughton, M. A. & Weatherall, D. J. J. molec. Biol. 19, 91–108 (1966).
Weatherall, D. J., Clegg, J. B. & Naughton, M. A. Nature 208, 1061–1065 (1965).
Weatherall, D. J., Clegg, J. B. & Wong, H. B. Br. J. Haemat. 18, 357–367 (1970).
Sheridan, B. L. et al. Br. J. Haemat. 32, 487–506 (1976).
Kamuzora, H., Jones, R. T. & Lehmann, H. FEBS Lett. 46, 195–199 (1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
RUTHERFORD, T., CLEGG, J. & WEATHERALL, D. K562 human leukaemic cells synthesise embryonic haemoglobin in response to haemin. Nature 280, 164–165 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/280164a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/280164a0
This article is cited by
-
Inhibition of mitochondrial folate metabolism drives differentiation through mTORC1 mediated purine sensing
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Unearthing FLVCR1a: tracing the path to a vital cellular transporter
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2024)
-
UPF1 silenced cellular model systems for screening of read-through agents active on β039 thalassemia point mutation
BMC Biotechnology (2018)
-
Generation of erythroid cells from polyploid giant cancer cells: re-thinking about tumor blood supply
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology (2018)
-
Down-regulation of miRNA-451a and miRNA-486-5p involved in benzene-induced inhibition on erythroid cell differentiation in vitro and in vivo
Archives of Toxicology (2018)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.