Cell Growth & Differentiation, Vol 8, Issue 3 319-326, Copyright © 1997 by American Association of Cancer Research

ARTICLES

AML1a but not AML1b inhibits erythroid differentiation induced by sodium butyrate and enhances the megakaryocytic differentiation of K562 leukemia cells

N Niitsu, Y Yamamoto-Yamaguchi, H Miyoshi, K Shimizu, M Ohki, M Umeda and Y Honma
Department of Chemotherapy, Saitama Cancer Center Research Institute, Ina, Japan.

AML1 may play a role in growth and differentiation of cells along erythroid and/or megakaryocytic lineages, because a significant level of the AML1 gene is expressed in these cells. We overexpressed AML1a (without the transcription-activating domain) and AML1b (with the domain) proteins in K562 leukemia cells, which can be induced to differentiate into hemoglobin-producing cells and megakaryocytes. The AML1a-transfected K562 cells had a reduced capacity to differentiate in the presence of sodium n-butyrate but not in the presence of other inducers, such as hemin, 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, and herbimycin A. The AML1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide but not the sense oligomer recovered its differentiation-inducing capacity in the presence of butyrate. On the other hand, AML1b conferred a similar differentiation-inducing capacity upon K562 cells transfected with vector alone. AML1a expression was associated with enhanced sensitivity to megakaryocytic differentiation induced by phorbol ester. These results provide evidence that AML1 proteins play a role in erythroid and megakaryocytic differentiation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Addya, M. A. Keller, K. Delgrosso, C. M. Ponte, R. Vadigepalli, G. E. Gonye, and S. Surrey Erythroid-induced commitment of K562 cells results in clusters of differentially expressed genes enriched for specific transcription regulatory elements Physiol Genomics, September 16, 2004; 19(1): 117 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Zunino, Q. Li, S. D. Rose, M. M. I. Romero-Benitez, T. Lejen, N. C. Brandan, and J.-M. Trifaro Expression of scinderin in megakaryoblastic leukemia cells induces differentiation, maturation, and apoptosis with release of plateletlike particles and inhibits proliferation and tumorigenesis Blood, October 1, 2001; 98(7): 2210 - 2219. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Niitsu, Y. Ishii, A. Matsuda, and Y. Honma Induction of Differentiation of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Cells by a Cytidine Deaminase-resistant Analogue of 1-{beta}-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine, 1-(2-Deoxy-2-methylene-{beta}-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)cytidine Cancer Res., January 1, 2001; 61(1): 178 - 185. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. Huang, C. P. Reed, J.-S. Zhang, V. Shridhar, L. Wang, and D. I. Smith Carboxypeptidase A3 (CPA3): A Novel Gene Highly Induced by Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors during Differentiation of Prostate Epithelial Cancer Cells Cancer Res., June 1, 1999; 59(12): 2981 - 2988. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]