ARID3a is a DNA-binding protein important for normal hematopoiesis in mice and for in vitro lymphocyte development in human cultures. ARID3a knockout mice die in utero with defects in both early hematopoietic stem cell populations and erythropoiesis. Recent transcriptome analyses in human erythropoietic systems revealed increases in ARID3a transcripts implicating potential roles for ARID3a in human erythrocyte development. However, ARID3a transcript levels do not faithfully reflect protein levels in many cells, and the functions and requirements for ARID3a protein in those systems have not been explored. We used the erythroleukemic cell line K562 as a model to elucidate functions of ARID3a protein in early human erythropoiesis. ARID3a knockdown of hemin-stimulated K562 cells resulted in lack of fetal globin production and modifications in gene expression. Temporal RNA sequencing data link ARID3a expression with the important erythroid regulators Gata1, Gata2, and Klf1 Ablation of ARID3a using CRISPR-Cas9 further demonstrated it is required to maintain chromatin structures associated with erythropoietic differentiation potential. These data demonstrate that the ARID3a protein is required for early erythropoietic events and provide evidence for the requirement of ARID3a functions for proper maintenance of appropriate chromatin structures.
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