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The regulatory control of human erythropoiesis through a purified protein, activin A, was examined. Previous studies using mixed populations of bone marrow cells suggested that activin A has an indirect effect on cellular proliferation and DNA synthesis of erythroid progenitors through the mediation of accessory cells. In present studies, the cultures of purified erythroid progenitors were used to examine the effect of activin A on globin gene expression. Human erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E) were partially purified from peripheral blood, and after 8 days of culture the cells generated consisted mainly of erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E). It was found that the subsequent 7-day cultures of these purified progenitors yielded similar numbers and size distributions of erythroid colonies, regardless of the presence of activin A in the cultures. In addition, these erythroid progenitor cells were responsive, in terms of stimulation of DNA synthesis, to the addition of erythropoietin, but not to treatment by activin A. Therefore, once the erythroid progen- itors are depleted of accessory cells, activin A has little effect on both the proliferation and the DNA synthesis of these progenitors. However, when these purified erythroid progenitors were cultured in the presence of activin A, the levels of all α, β, and e globin transcripts and hemoglobins were significantly increased. In addition, disuccinimidyl suberate was found to chemically cross-link 125l-activin A to cell surface binding proteins (45 to 54 Kd) in both purified erythroid progenitors and K562 cells. The labeling of these binding proteins was specifically inhibited by the presence of unlabeled activin A, but not transforming growth factor-β. These results suggest that, in addition to its indirect effect on DNA synthesis and cellular proliferation of erythroid progenitors, activin A directly affects the levels of globin mRNAs and hemoglobins in developing human erythroid cells through its specific surface binding receptor(s). ©1992 by The American Society of Hematology. 0006–4971/92/7903-0008$3.00/0

Recent studies indicate that a purified protein, activin A, belongs to the transforming growth factor β(TGF-β) superfamily. Similar to TGF-β, activin A can have different biologic activities, depending on the target tissues. We used recombinant activin A to demonstrate a possible regulatory role of this protein in modulating human erythroid differentiation in the human erythroid cell line, K562. Using genomic probes containing the second exon of a,0, γ,and e globins, relative abundance of various types of globin transcripts in untreated and activin-treated K562 cells was examined with S1nuclease analysis. Despite considerable homology amongst various globin sequences, these globin probes were highly specific for their unique mRNA species in the analyses. It was shown that the abundance of specific globin probe fragments for γ and є globins (209 nucleotides) as well as a (180 nucleotides), which were protected from S1digestion, increased many fold in K562 cells treated with activin A. In contrast, there were no specific transcripts of β globin detected in either the control or activin-treated cells. The increases in the level of fetal and embryonic β-like and a globin transcripts also confirmed earlier studies of Northern and slot-blot analyses using globin cDNA as probes. In addition, nuclear run-off transcription assay using isolated nuclei indicated that most of the increase in the globin transcripts after activin treatment could be attributed to the stimulation of transcription rate for globin genes. Transient transfection assays also provide evidence that activin A significantly stimulated transcriptional activity of an € globin promoter in K562, but not in the nonerythroid Chinese hamster ovary cells. Therefore, it was concluded that activin A exerts its effects on globin gene expression at the level of transcription in erythroid cells. © 1992 by The American Society of Hematology. 0006–4971/92/7903-0009S3.00/0

Activin, also named FSH-releasing protein, was previously shown to induce hemoglobin accumulation in K562 cells and potentiate the proliferation and differentiation of CFU-E in human bone marrow cultures Present studies indicate that the potentiation effect of activin is lineage specific In addition to CFU-E, activin caused an increase in the colony formation of BFU-E from either bone marrow or peripheral blood It had little effect on the colony formation of CFU-GM and the mixed colonies from CFU-GEMM In serum-depleted culture, the effect of activin was shown to be dose-dependent with doses effective at picomolar concentrations The potentiation effect of activin was exerted indirectly through mediation of both monocytes and T lymphocytes Activin was also found to increase specifically the proportion of DNA-synthesizing erythroid progenitors from both bone marrow and peripheral blood It had little effect on DNA synthesis in CFU-GM and in mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes Addition of the monocytes or T lymphocytes to their respective depleted subpopulations of mononuclear cells reconstituted the enhancing effect of activin on the colony formation and DNA synthesis of erythroid progenitors These results strongly suggest a specific role of activin in potentiating the proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitors in vitro

Methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), an enzyme essential for the salvage of adenine and methionine, is deficient in a variety of cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Because the MTAP gene is located adjacent to the tumor-suppressor gene p16 on chromosome 9p21 and more than 60% of T-cell ALL (T-ALL) patients have deletion in the p16 gene, we examined the status of the MTAP gene in T-ALL patients. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction amplification of exon 8 of MTAP showed a deletion in 16 of 48 (33.3%) patients at diagnosis and in 13 of 33 (39.4%) patients at relapse. Southern blot analysis showed that, in addition to deletion of the entire MTAP gene, a common break point was between exons 4 and 5, resulting in deletion of exons 5 through 8. The finding of frequent deficiency of MTAP in T-ALL offers the possibility of an enzyme targeted therapy for T-ALL. MTAP(-) T-ALL-derived cell line, CEM ceils were very sensitive to methionine deprivation, with cell viability at 50% of control as early as 48 hours after methionine deprivation. In contrast, methionine deprivation had little effect on the viability of normal lymphocytes or on their proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin. Alanosine, an inhibitor of AMP synthesis, inhibited the growth of both MTAP(+) (Molt-4 and Molt-16) and MTAP(-) (CEM and HSB2) cell lines. However, the addition of methylthioadenosine, the substrate of MTAP, protected the MTAP(+) cells but not the MTAP(-) cells from alanosine toxicity. These findings suggest the possibility of targeting MTAP for selective therapy of T-ALL.

Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II (CDA II or HEMPAS) is a genetic anemia caused by membrane abnormality. Our previous studies indicated that in HEMPAS, erythrocytes band 3 and band 4.5 are not glycosylated by polylactosaminoglycans. The present study was aimed at determining how such underglycosylated band 3 behaves in erythrocyte membranes. By using anti-band 3 antibodies, immunogold electron microscopy revealed that band 3s are clustered in HEMPAS erythrocyte membranes. By freeze-fracture electron microscopy, band 3s were also seen as lightly clumped intramembrane particles on a protoplasmic fracture face. Erythrocyte precursor cells stained by anti-band 3 antibodies showed that band 3s are present in the cytoplasmic area of the reticulocytes as scattered single particles. However, in young erythrocytes in which intracellular membranes are almost degenerated, band 3s were clustered in the cytoplasmic area of the cell. These observations suggest that band 3s cluster before they are incorporated into the plasma membranes of HEMPAS erythrocytes. In contrast to band 3, glycophorin A detected by anti-glycophorin A antibodies did not show a noticeable difference between normal and HEMPAS. Such a clustering of band 3 may cause abnormal localization of band 3-associated proteins and may thus result in the macroscopic membrane abnormality seen in HEMPAS erythrocytes.