Evidence for cellular cooperativity in hemoglobin synthesis by erythroid bursts.

We have studied hemoglobin synthesis associated with erythroid bursts under various conditions. The slope of the curve relating log cell number to log hemoglobin synthesis is consistently greater than the slope of the curve relating log cell number to log bursts, suggesting that cellular interactions may be involved in maximal hemoglobin synthesis by the cells comprising the bursts. This suggestion if strengthened by experiments which show that gentle disruption of burst structure is accompanied by a decline in hemoglobin synthesis.