INDUCTION OF HEMOGLOBIN-SYNTHESIS IN HUMAN-LEUKEMIC K 562-CELLS BY ADRIAMYCIN

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 4  (1-2) , 47-51
Abstract
The antitumor compound adriamycin was found to induce differentiation-associated properties in human erythroleukemia K-562 cells. Studies on the relationship between drug concentration and the appearance of Hb demonstrated that, the more the rate of cell division was reduced during the 4 days of exposure, the higher was the accumulation of Hb per cell. Considering the variation in the intracellular protein content during the response, it appears that adriamycin (40 nM) stimulated the synthesis of both Hb and non-Hb proteins while hemin, a well-known erythroid inducer, specifically increased Hb synthesis. In addition, the lack of cell growth was associated with a recruitment of benzidine-positive cells. In contrast to hemin, adriamycin did not modify the electrophoretic pattern found in untreated cells.