[Research progress of proto-oncogene c-myb in megakaryocyte-erythroid hematopoiesis]

The nuclear proto-oncogene c-myb is an essential regulator of hematopoiesis, it involves in the growth, survival, proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells. More recently, different cell lines and transgenic mouse studies have suggested that c-myb plays a pivotal role in the megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor cell lineage commitment. The deletion of the proto-oncogene c-myb would lead to profoundly impaired definitive erythropoiesis, but little influence in definitive megakaryopoiesis. Moreover, transient transfection and immunoprecipitation studies have demonstrated that c-myb exerts its physiological function in normal hematopoiesis by influencing a network of regulator molecules. Now therefore, insight into the structure, function and related molecular regulation mechanism of c-myb gene can help to further clarify its function in megakaryocyte-erythroid hematopoiesis and can provide new ideas for molecular target therapy of the platelet diseases and red blood cell diseases. In this article, c-myb structure, function and related effects involved in megakaryocyte-erythroid hematopoiesis as well as related molecular mechanisms are reviewed.