Modification by heme oxygenase inhibitor, tin protoporphyrin, of cellular differentiation of human myeloid leukemia K562 cell line.

Human myeloid leukemia K562 cells can be induced to differentiate to mature cells bidirectionally, i.e., hemin induces erythroid differentiation, while 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) induces differentiation to monocytes. TPA is also a potent inducer of heme oxygenase (HO), which catabolizes heme to biliverdin. We show here that TPA suppresses hemin-induced erythroid differentiation of K562 cells, while retinoids augment it. Further, an HO inhibitor, tin protoporphyrin (SnPP), suppresses TPA-induced K562 cell differentiation to monocytes. It was also found that co-treatment of K562 cells with SnPP and TPA induces erythroid differentiation of K562 cells, though SnPP alone or TPA alone does not induce erythroid differentiation, suggesting a role of HO in the directional switch of differentiation.