Haemoglobin Constant Spring has an unstable α chain messenger RNA

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Abstract
Summary.: Haemoglobin Constant Spring (Hb CS) is a variant with an elongated α‐chain associated with an α+ thalassaemia phenotype. The amount of α mRNA relative to β mRNA in reticulocytes was reduced in carriers of Hb CS by an amount equivalent to the reduction observed in carriers of α+ thalassaemia. In a patient with Hb CS‐H disease there was greater α/β mRNA ratio in bone marrow nuclear RNA than in the peripheral blood. Furthermore, all the α mRNA in the patient's peripheral blood was derived from the α1 (αA) gene. The data suggest that αCS mRNA is unstable and degraded in the cytoplasm. This instability may be due to destabilization of a specific sequence in the 3’non‐coding region during translation.