Developmental changes in the expression of transcription factors GATA-1, -2 and -3 during the onset of human medullary haematopoiesis

Christof Dame, Martha C. Sola, Joachim Fandrey, Lisa M. Rimsza, Patricia Freitag, Gisela Knöpfle, Robert D. Christensen, Jörg Bungert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Regulation of gene expression during the ontogeny of haematopoiesis in the human fetal bone marrow is poorly understood. Studies in mice demonstrated that GATA-1, -2 and -3 play pivotal roles in haematopoiesis. In this study, we identified GATA-1-, GATA-2- and GATA-3-expressing cells in bone marrow sections and analysed the expression of GATA-transcription factors during the development of human fetal bone marrow haematopoiesis using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We showed that GATA-1, -2 and -3 were expressed only in haematopoietic cells in the bone marrow. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that (1) GATA-1 expression significantly increased during gestation; (2) GATA-2 expression peaked at the onset of medullary haematopoiesis, declined thereafter, and remained at a constant level after 30 weeks post conception; and (3) GATA-3 expression revealed no changes during development. The results indicated that the onset of medullary haematopoiesis in humans is accompanied by high expression of GATA-2, reflecting high proliferation rates of early haematopoietic progenitor cells, whereas expression of GATA-1 mirrors haematopoietic activity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)510-515
Number of pages6
JournalBritish journal of haematology
Volume119
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002

Keywords

  • GATA
  • Haematopoiesis
  • Human development
  • Stem cell
  • Transcription factor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology

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