Expression of erythroid acetylcholinesterase in the K-562 leukemia cell line

Differentiation-dependent expression of enzyme loci was evaluated in two human leukemic cell lines, the pluripotent leukemia cell line K-562 and the promyelocytic-like cell line HL-60. Acetylcholinesterase, a marker of erythroid differentiation, was present in K-562 cells and absent in HL-60 cells. This difference between the two lines was apparently unrelated to dosage effect; other enzymes carried on trisomic chromosomes in K-562 cells did not show dosage effect. Acetylcholinesterase activity was higher in subclone K-562 (S), which shows higher expression of hemoglobin. Electrophoretic mobility of acetylcholinesterase from K-562 (S) was of fetal type.