In vitro induction of fetal hemoglobin in erythroid cells derived from CD133+ cells by transforming growth factor- and stem cell factor

Increased fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in -globin gene disorders ameliorates the clinical symptoms of the underlying disease. 5-azacytidine, butyrate and hydroxyurea, have been shown to activate? -globin gene expression. It has also been found that hematopoietic growth factors can influence expression of? -globin in erythroid cultures and in animal models. This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro effects of the stem cell factor (SCF) and transforming growth factor- (TGF-) on? -globin gene reactivation of erythroid precursors derived from CD133+ cells in vitro. Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed increased expression of the? -globin transcript in cell culture groups containing either TGF- or SCF or both as compared to control (2.2-, 2.7- and 5.5-fold, respectively) (p