Inhibition of Erythroid Differentiation of Human Leukemia K562 Cells by N-acetylcysteine and Ascorbic Acid through Downregulation of ROS

This study investigated the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and ascorbic acid (AA) on hemin-induced K562 cell erythroid differentiation and the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this process. Hemin increased ROS levels in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas NAC and AA had opposite effects. Both NAC and AA eliminated transient increased ROS levels after hemin treatment, inhibited hemin-induced hemoglobin synthesis, and decreased mRNA expression levels of β-globin, γ-globin, and GATA-1 genes significantly. Pretreatment with 5,000 μmol/L AA for 2 h resulted in a considerably lower inhibition ratio of hemoglobin synthesis than that when pretreated for 24 h, whereas the ROS levels were the lowest when treated with 5,000 μmol/L AA for 2 h. These results show that NAC and AA might inhibit hemin-induced K562 cell erythroid differentiation by downregulating ROS levels.