Activation of hemoglobin C synthesis in sheep marrow culture.

Erythropoietin preferentially stimulates hemoglobin C synthesis in suspension cultures of marrow cells from sheep homozygous for hemoglobin A; the amount of synthesis is dependent on the dose of erythropoietin and is blocked by antiserum to erythropoietin. The results provide the first in vitro evidence that erythropoietin mediates the hemoglobin A --> C "switch" in sheep and indicate that bone marrow cultures may be used to investigate the mechanisms involved in the preferential gene activation characteristic of the hemoglobin A --> C system.