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B-cell lymphoma 11A (BCL11A) downregulation in human primary adult erythroid progenitors results in elevated expression of fetal γ-globin. Recent reports showed that BCL11A expression is activated by KLF1, leading to γ-globin repression. To study regulation of erythropoiesis and globin expression by KLF1 and BCL11A in an in vivo model, we used mice carrying a human β-globin locus transgene with combinations of Klf1 knockout, Bcl11a floxed, and EpoR(Cre) knockin alleles. We found a higher percentage of reticulocytes in adult Klf1(wt/ko) mice and a mild compensated anemia in Bcl11a(cko/cko) mice. These phenotypes were more pronounced in compound Klf1(wt/ko)::Bcl11a(cko/cko) mice. Analysis of Klf1(wt/ko), Bcl11a(cko/cko), and Klf1(wt/ko)::Bcl11a(cko/cko) mutant embryos demonstrated increased expression of mouse embryonic globins during fetal development. Expression of human γ-globin remained high in Bcl11a(cko/cko) embryos during fetal development, and this was further augmented in Klf1(wt/ko)::Bcl11a(cko/cko) embryos. After birth, expression of human γ-globin and mouse embryonic globins decreased in Bcl11a(cko/cko) and Klf1(wt/ko)::Bcl11a(cko/cko) mice, but the levels remained much higher than those observed in control animals. Collectively, our data support an important role for the KLF1-BCL11A axis in erythroid maturation and developmental regulation of globin expression.

The transition of reticulocytes into erythrocytes is accompanied by extensive changes in the structure and properties of the plasma membrane. These changes include an increase in shear resistance, loss of surface area, and acquisition of a biconcave shape. The processes by which these changes are effected have remained largely undefined. Here we examine how the expression of 30 distinct membrane proteins and their interactions change during murine reticulocyte maturation. We show that tubulin and cytosolic actin are lost, whereas the membrane content of myosin, tropomyosin, intercellular adhesion molecule-4, glucose transporter-4, Na-K-ATPase, sodium/hydrogen exchanger 1, glycophorin A, CD47, Duffy, and Kell is reduced. The degradation of tubulin and actin is, at least in part, through the ubiquitin-proteasome degradation pathway. In regard to the protein-protein interactions, the formation of membrane-associated spectrin tetramers from dimers is unperturbed, whereas the interactions responsible for the formation of the membrane-skeletal junctions are weaker in reticulocytes, as is the attachment of transmembrane proteins to these structures. This weakness, in part, results from the elevated phosphorylation of 4.1R in reticulocytes, which leads to a decrease in shear resistance by reducing its interaction with spectrin and actin. These observations begin to unravel the mechanistic basis of crucial changes accompanying reticulocyte maturation.