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Characterization of K562 cells: uncovering novel chromosomes, assessing transferrin receptor expression, and probing pharmacological therapies

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Abstract

Human erythroleukemic K562 cells represent the prototypical cell culture model of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The cells are pseudo-triploid and positive for the Philadelphia chromosome. Therefore, K562 cells have been widely used for investigating the BCR/ABL1 oncogene and the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib-mesylate. Further, K562 cells overexpress transferrin receptors (TfR) and have been used as a model for targeting cytotoxic therapies, via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Here, we have characterized K562 cells focusing on the karyotype of cells in prolonged culture, regulation of expression of TfR in wildtype (WT) and doxorubicin-resistant cells, and responses to histone deacetylase inhibition (HDACi). Karyotype analysis indicates novel chromosomes and gene expression analysis suggests a shift of cultured K562 cells away from patient-derived leukemic cells. We confirm the high expression of TfR on K562 cells using immunofluorescence and cell-surface receptor binding radioassays. Importantly, high TfR expression is observed in patient-derived cells, and we highlight the persistent expression of TfR following doxorubicin acquired resistance. Epigenetic analysis indicates that permissive histone acetylation and methylation at the promoter region regulates the transcription of TfR in K562 cells. Finally, we show relatively high expression of HDAC enzymes in K562 cells and demonstrate the chemotoxic effects of HDACi, using the FDA-approved hydroxamic acid, vorinostat. Together with a description of morphology, infrared spectral analysis, and examination of metabolic properties, we provide a comprehensive characterization of K562 cells. Overall, K562 cell culture systems remain widely used for the investigation of novel therapeutics for CML, which is particularly important in cases of imatinib-mesylate resistance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the use of the facilities provided by Monash Micro Imaging at AMREP and particularly, the expert assistance from Drs Stephen Cody and Iśka Carmichael. Also we acknowledge the technical expertise of Dr. Clement Khaw (Singapore Bioimaging Consortium-Nikon Imaging Centre) for N-SIM super resolution imaging and Dr Darren Henstrigde (Cellular and Molecular metabolism, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute) for assistance with the Seahorse XF96 extracellular flux analyzer. M.W. was supported by the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia. EP is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. We thank the National Computing Infrastructure (NCI), and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Australia (funded by the Australian Government). Further, we thank the Spartan High Performance Computing service (University of Melbourne), and the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) for awarding the access to Piz Daint, hosted at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), Switzerland. Supported in part by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epigenetics in Human Health and Disease Program, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, 75 Commercial Road, Prahran, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Tom C. Karagiannis, Ishant Khurana, Scott S. Maxwell & Assam El-Osta

  2. Epigenomic Medicine Laboratory at prospED Training, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia

    Tom C. Karagiannis, Katherine Ververis, Eleni Pitsillou, Stephanie M. Tortorella & Peter A. Wood

  3. Department of Clinical Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Tom C. Karagiannis, Katherine Ververis & Stephanie M. Tortorella

  4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Tom C. Karagiannis

  5. Victorian Cancer Cytogenetics Service, St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, VIC, 3065, Australia

    Meaghan Wall

  6. Department of Medicine, St Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, 3065, Australia

    Meaghan Wall

  7. School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, VIC, 3001, Australia

    Eleni Pitsillou & Andrew Hung

  8. Population Health and Immunity, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Haloom Rafehi

  9. ANSTO-Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Jitraporn Vongsvivut

  10. Department of Diabetes, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Assam El-Osta

  11. Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Assam El-Osta

  12. Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 3/F Lui Che Woo Clinical Sciences Building, 30‑32 Ngan Shing Street, Sha Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Assam El-Osta

  13. Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Assam El-Osta

  14. Biomedical Laboratory Science, Department of Technology, Faculty of Health, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Assam El-Osta

  15. Epigenomic in Human Health and Disease Program, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, 75 Commercial Road, Prahran, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Tom C. Karagiannis

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  1. Tom C. Karagiannis
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Contributions

TCK, AH, and AE conceptualized the aims and methodology, were involved in supervision, and production of the first draft of the manuscript. MW, KV, EP, SMT, PAW, HR, IK, SSM, AH, and JV generated data, performed data analysis, curated data, and produced the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to editing and reviewing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tom C. Karagiannis.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were fractionated using the Ficoll Plaque (GE Healthcare, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA) method from buffy coat obtained from the Australian Red Cross Blood Bank (ARCB) under ethics approval (#304/12) and informed consent was obtained from the donors. Cells were maintained in complete-RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 2 mM l-glutamine and 1% penicillin/streptomycin at 37 °C, 5% (v/v) CO2.

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Karagiannis, T.C., Wall, M., Ververis, K. et al. Characterization of K562 cells: uncovering novel chromosomes, assessing transferrin receptor expression, and probing pharmacological therapies. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 80, 248 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-023-04905-6

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