Transferrin receptor regulation is coupled to intracellular ferritin in proliferating and differentiating HL60 leukemia cells

✍ Scribed by Kaspar Rhyner; Raymond Taetle; Harriet Bering; Dong To

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 525 KB
• Volume: 125
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9541
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.1041250333

✦ Synopsis

Cultured myeloid leu kemia cells display transferrin receptors but decrease receptor display after differentiation induction or accumulation of intracellular iron. To determine whether regulation of transferrin receptors and ferritin were linked under these disparate conditions, serum-free and fetal bovine serum (FBS) cultures of HL60 promyelocytic leukemia cells were used to investigate relationships between transferrin receptor display and intracellular ferritin. Using 1251-transferrin binding and immunofluorescence staining for transferrin receptors, HL60 cells cultured in serum-free, transferrin-free medium expressed fewer transferrin receptors and contained increased ferritin when compared to cells cultured with FBS or transferrin supplemented, serum-free medium. When placed in medium containing transferrin, cells previously grown in transferrin-free medium rapidly re-expressed transferrin receptors and decreased their ferritin content. HL60 cells induced to differentiate into granulocytes or macrophages also decreased transferrin receptor display and increased their ferritin content. Transferrin receptor display and ferritin content in both proliferating and differentiating myeloid leukemia cells are inversely related and their regulation is closely linked. Regulation of transferrin receptor display and ferritin synthesis may be important events regulating myeloid cell growth and differentiation.