Effect of IL-3 on Globin Gene Expression
in
a Human Erythroleukemia Cell Line
CHENG Xiao-Dong,XIE Heng-Yue and QIAN Ruo-Lan
( Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology,the Chinese Academy of
Sciences,Shanghai 200031,China )
Abstract A human erythroleukemia cell
line(K562 cells)was used as a model to study the effect of interleukin-3(IL-3)
on human globin gene expression in the cells. The results showed that the
β-globin gene was not expressed in uninduced K562 cells；however,it was expressed when
K562 cells were induced for 3 or 5 days by IL-3. The expression of α- and
γ-globin gene were not much different between IL-3 induced and uninduced K562
cells. Using the method of benzidine-dyeing,it was observed that the percentage
of blue cells was significantly increased when K562 cells were induced by IL-3.
It suggested that IL-3 could not only activate the exp-ression of β-globin gene
in K562 cells,but also induce the synthesis of hemoglobin. Therefore,IL-3 may
play a critical role in inducing K562 cells to terminal differentiation.
Key Words Interleukin-3；human erythroleukemia cell
line；globin
gene
Corresponding author:
Tel, 86-21-6315030-2092; Fax, 86-21-64331090; e-mail, [email protected]