title: Developmental changes in the expression of transcription factors GATA-1, -2 and -3 during the onset of human medullary haematopoiesis.
abstract: Regulation of gene expression during the ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the human fetal bone marrow is poorly understood. Studies in mice demonstrated that GATA-1, -2 and -3 play pivotal roles in haematopoiesis. In this study, we identified GATA-1-, GATA-2- and GATA-3-expressing cells in bone marrow sections and analysed the expression of GATA-transcription factors during the development of human fetal bone marrow haematopoiesis using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We showed that GATA-1, -2 and -3 were expressed only in haematopoietic cells in the bone marrow. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that (1) GATA-1 expression significantly increased during gestation; (2) GATA-2 expression peaked at the onset of medullary haematopoiesis, declined thereafter, and remained at a constant level after 30 weeks post conception; and (3) GATA-3 expression revealed no changes during development. The results indicated that the onset of medullary haematopoiesis in humans is accompanied by high expression of GATA-2, reflecting high proliferation rates of early haematopoietic progenitor cells, whereas expression of GATA-1 mirrors haematopoietic activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610-0296, USA. damec@peds.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dame
authors.forename: Martha C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sola
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fandrey
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rimsza
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.forename: Gisela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Knöpfle
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bungert
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000196:embryology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D050981:Erythroid-Specific DNA-Binding Factors; D050982:GATA1 Transcription Factor; D050989:GATA2 Transcription Factor; D050990:GATA3 Transcription Factor; D015870:Gene Expression; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005865:Gestational Age; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050981:Erythroid-Specific DNA-Binding Factors; D050982:GATA1 Transcription Factor; C494688:GATA1 protein, human; D050989:GATA2 Transcription Factor; C494711:GATA2 protein, human; D050990:GATA3 Transcription Factor; C494749:GATA3 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors