Induction of erythroid differentiation by 5-fluorouracil in K562 leukemia cells.
K562 cell line, established from a patient in the blast crisis of chronic myeloid leukemia, expresses high levels of c-myc and bcr/abl gene products. Exposure of K562 cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) resulted in a marked benzidine-positive erythroid differentiation with concomitant reduction in cell proliferation. No change in c-myc mRNA or protein levels occurred during 96 h of drug treatment. In contrast, a biphasic change of p210bcr/abl and the abl-associated kinase activities was observed upon treatment with 5-FU. The change in p210bcr/abl expression may be mediated at the translational level, since the steady-state level and the enzymatic activity of p210bcr/abl are reduced, whereas bcr/abl mRNA levels are unaltered. The results are consistent with the existence of pleiotropic differentiation pathways in K562 cells.
D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004920:Erythropoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D016313:Genes, abl; D016259:Genes, myc; D006801:Humans; D004915:Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D005472:Fluorouracil