Acta Pharm. 49 (1999) 29–34
Adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), a mediator of intracellular signal,
plays an important role in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. In some animal
cells an increase in cAMP activates the transcription of specific genes.
The aim of this
study has been to examine the influence of cAMP on the events during erythroid differentiation.
The chicken erythroblast cell line (HD3), transformed with temperature sensitive erythroleukemia
virus (ts34), was used as a model. The cells were induced to differentiate and the markers of
the erythroid differentiation were measured. The specific inhibitors, which modulate the
intracellular level of cAMP, were also used.
Differentiation of the HD3 cells is followed by
increasing the level of intracellular cAMP. This elevation is an important event involved in the
terminal differentiation of the HD3 cells, but probably not compatible with differentiation
itself. In comparison with hemin and butyric acid, 3-i-butyl-1-methyl-xanthyne, a cAMP elevating
agent decreased the synthesis of haemoglobin. This suggests that a high level of intracellular
cAMP could have a negative influence on differentiation of the HD3 cells.
Keywords: HD3 cells, differentiation, cAMP level