The canine erythroid cell system: a new model for study of regulatory mechanism in hemoglobin synthesis.

The total methodology for a new mammalian erythroid cell system which permits direct investigation of the terminal stages of hemoglobin synthesis and assembly is described. The canine system allows quantitative separation of native heme containing alpha and beta chains which recombine to for tetrameric hemoglobin with normal functional properties (n = 2.17). These chains can be utilized for investigation in a cell-free system in which the rates of synthesis of alpha and beta chains are equal (alpha/beta = 0.96 +/- 0.05). Methodology for the quantitative separation of globin allows study of the effects of balanced and unbalanced globin chain synthesis in both the intact cells and the cell-free system.