Early protooncogene expression during hemin-induced differentiation of human erythroleukemic cells

In situ hybridization was used to study the effects of hemin on the expression of the oncogenes c-myc, c-fos, and myb, and on the mRNA level of erythroid porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D) and alpha-globin in HEL cells during differentiation. The technique was effective in detecting changes in mRNA levels in small numbers of HEL cells. Hemin stimulation of HEL cells results in an early increase in myb and c-myc expression and a decrease in c-fos mRNA, while increased PBG-D and alpha-globin expression is not seen until 8 h after hemin treatment. Blast-like cells display expression of c-myc, alpha-globin and PBG-D, while the more differentiated cells give a positive response to both c-fos and myb. During HEL cell differentiation, the mechanism of hemin stimulation appears to be through the up regulation of myb and c-myc mRNA and down regulation of c-fos. The subsequent expression of PBG-D and alpha-globin may indicate that early increases in protooncogene expression are first required for the normal progression of erythropoiesis to occur.