Abstract
We have analysed the expression of cloned human fetal .gamma.-globin genes introduced into murine erythroleukemia cells by a protoplast fusion procedure. Both the wild-type A.gamma.-globin gene and a mutant derivative related to a phenotype of hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin were studied. In both cases the level of .gamma.-globin mRNA increased by a factor of approximately sevenfold when erythroid cell differentiation was induced by treatment with hexamethylenebisacetamide. Thus, the regulation of the expression of the cloned fetal A.gamma.-globin gene in murine erythroleukemia cells resembled that of cloned adult .beta.-globin genes.