Myeloid/Lymphoid Or Mixed Lineage Leukemia Translocated To 3 (MLLT3)

MLLT3 regulates early human erythroid and megakaryocytic cell fate. Through expression profiling of prospectively isolated stem and primitive progenitor cells as well as committed progenitors from cord blood (CB), MLLT3 as a candidate regulator of erythroid/megakaryocytic (E/Meg) lineage decisions. Conversely, forced expression of MLLT3 promotes the output of erythroid and megakaryocytic progenitors, and analysis of MLLT3 mutants suggests that this capacity of MLLT3 depends on its transcriptional regulatory activity. Gene expression and cis-regulatory element analyses reveal crossregulatory interactions between MLLT3 and E/Meg-affiliated transcription factor GATA-1. Taken together, the data identify MLLT3 as a regulator of early erythroid and megakaryocytic cell fate in the human system.