Only adult hemoglobin is produced in fetal nonerythroid x MEL cell hybrids
S Takegawa, M Brice, G Stamatoyannopoulos and T Papayannopoulou
In order to test whether the ontogenetic origin of human parental cells
influences the expression of globin genes, we did fusions of mouse
erythroleukemia (MEL) cells with fetal or adult nonerythroid cells and we
assessed globin expression in hybrids. For selection of hybrid clones we
used a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a human chromosome 11-linked
cell surface marker. Globin expression was assessed with fluorescent
antibody labeling, globin isoelectric focusing, and S1 nuclease mapping.
Chromosome 11-containing hybrids from human nonerythroid cells (adult or
fetal lymphoid cells; fetal fibroblasts) produced human adult (beta) but
not fetal (gamma) globin chains. These results suggest that the MEL x
nonerythroid cell hybrids express the adult human globin independent of
whether the human cells derive from the fetal or from the adult stage of
human development. Our findings, together with previous observations in MEL
x fetal erythroid or MEL x HEL hybrids, show that the globin program of the
parental human cell is the main determinant of the expression of fetal
human globin in these hybrids.
Volume 68,
Issue 6,
pp. 1384-1388,
12/01/1986
Copyright © 1986 by The American Society of Hematology
