Proteomic Characterization of Hemogen in Erythropoiesis

Abstract

Hemogen (Hemgn) is reported as a tissue specific transcriptional regulator in testis as well as hematopoietic tissues. It is known that Hemgn positively regulates erythroid differentiation; however,the underlying molecular mechanism is not well understood. In the current study, using proteomic approach in combination with other molecular biology tools,we have attempted to decipher the role of Hemgn in differentiating Murine erythroblast leukemia (MEL) cells as a model system. Our study reveals that Hemgn predominantly interacts with transcriptional regulators, chromatin modifiers and histones. Furthermore, using Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and knockdown approach, we have demonstrated that Hemgn is recruited to the b-globin locus, which is known to be activated during erythroid differentiation. Based on the results,we speculate that Hemgn acts as a tissue specific histone chaperone that regulates transcription during erythroid differentiation.