GATA-1 and heme regulate the erythroid cell transcriptome

Alas2 gene encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in heme biosynthesis. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ablation of two Alas2 intronic cis-elements strongly reduced GATA-1-induced Alas2 transcription, heme biosynthesis, and GATA-1 regulation of other vital constituents of the erythroid cell transcriptome. Bypassing Alas2 function in Alas2 cis-element-mutant (double mutant) cells by providing its catalytic product 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) rescued heme biosynthesis and the GATA-1-dependent genetic network. We discovered a GATA factor- and heme-dependent circuit that establishes the erythroid cell transcriptome. G1E-ER-GATA-1 WT and double mutant cells were examined. Untreated WT, beta-estradiol-treated WT, beta-estradiol-treated double-mutant, and beta-estradiol/5-ALA-treated double-mutant cells were subjected to RNA-seq.