Terminal erythroid differentiation in normal and leukemic mouse cells.

Friend virus-transformed murine erythroleukemic cells (FL cells) have been used as an in vitro model for the study of the expression of the genetic program involved in the final stages of erythroid differentiation. Treatment of the FL cells with chemical inducers such as dimethylsulfoxide results in their differentiation from 'pro-erythroblasts' to orthochromatic normoblasts and the appearance of several erythroid markers including hemoglobin, enzymes of the heme pathway, heme, glycophorin, and spectrin. These markers appear in an ordered sequence, suggesting that two genetic programs are involved in the erythroid differentiation of the cells. Preliminary studies with erythropoietin-stimulated fetal liver cultures in vitro suggest that the same is true for normal erythroid differentiation.