Haemoglobin synthesis in K562 erythroleukaemia cells is affected by intimate contact with monolayers of various human cell types.

The haemoglobin content of K562 erythroleukaemia cells was affected by co-culture over monolayers of various human cell types. Haemoglobin synthesis was increased after co-culture with umbilical-cord-derived endothelial cells and most monolayers of bone-marrow-derived macrophages, and inhibited after co-culture with two fibroblast lines, blood-monocyte-derived macrophages, a neuroglial cell line (U-251 MG) and most monolayers of bone-marrow-derived stromal cells. These effects were modified when a thin layer of agar was placed over the monolayers. Cell-free culture media conditioned by all but two of the seven types of monolayer studied inhibited haemoglobin synthesis by K562 cells; those conditioned by blood-monocyte-derived macrophages and two of 11 monolayers of bone-marrow-derived macrophages stimulated haemoglobin synthesis. Thus, the haemoglobin content of K562 cells appeared to be influenced both by intimate contact between K562 cells and the cells of the monolayers and by humoral factors released by the monolayers. The data support the concept that erythroid differentiation is partly dependent on intimate contact between erythroid progenitor cells and microenvironmental cells.