Hemoglobin Synthesis In Mice Doubly Heterozygous For Alpha And Beta Thalassemia

Abstract

The extent of imbalance between the synthesis rate of «-globin polypeptide chains relative to B-globin chains in thalassemic mice is one of the major factors in determining the pathophysiology of thalassemia. Mice doubly heterozygous for both a mutant ®<-thalassemic chromosome and a /?-thalassemic chromosome exhibited a hypochromic, microcytic anemia with mild reticulocytosis and erythrocytosis. However, the erythrocytes of these mice displayed few signs of hemolysis, or poikilocytosis, and did not contain visible inclusion bodies. Analysis of the relative rates of globin chain syntheses in vitro by ^H-leucine incorporation revealed the