Cyclin A2 regulates erythrocyte morphology and numbers

What is it about?

Red blood cell development is based on a massive expansion of cell numbers, which is based on cell division. Cyclin A2 is an important and essential regulator of the cell cycle because it binds to Cdk2 and Cdk1. We found that when cyclin A2 is deleted late in red blood cell development, that mice survive but there are differences in erythrocyte morphology and numbers. A small proportion of erythrocytes accumulate Howell-Jolly bodies (nuclear remnants) and DNA damage

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Why is it important?

Cyclin A2 is an essential gene and when deleted will cause lethality in most tissues. We show here that although cyclin A2 is essential for BFU-E's it is not required for CFU-E's. Therefore, cyclin A2 is required differentially for specific progenitor cells in red blood cell development.