DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF ALPHA-GLOBIN AND BETA-GLOBIN GENES IN ERYTHROLEUKEMIC CELL-LINES

The IW32, NN10, and IW201 cell lines are erythroleukemic cell lines isolated from the spleens of mice infected with the Friend virus. IW32 and NN10 cells can be induced toward erythroid differentiation and hemoglobin synthesis by hemin or butyrate. Both cell lines contain some mature α- and β-globin mRNA before induction, and addition of the inducers greatly increases the amount of globin message. Unlike IW32 and NN10 cells, IW201 cells are only partially inducible. Uninduced 201 cells contain a small amount of α-globin mRNA but no detectable β-globin message. After induction, the cells contain markedly increased amounts of α-globin mRNA but still do not express the β-globin gene. Southern blot analysis with 10 restriction enzymes shows that the restriction map of the β-globin gene in IW201 cells is indistinguishable from that in IW32 and NN10 cells.