13C-metabolic flux analysis of K562 cells before and after differentiation into erythroid reveals a metabolic shift toward oxidative metabolism

Abstract

In regenerative medicine, it is crucial to discover the key factors associated with erythroid differentiation for efficient production of artificial red blood cells. One such factor is erythroid metabolism as erythroid cells dynamically coordinate their metabolic processes to obtain energy for proper differentiation. However, the details of these metabolic changes are not well understood. In this study, we aimed to analyze the metabolism of K562, a cell line that differentiates into erythroid cells using ¹³C-metabolic flux analysis. The results showed that differentiated cells decreased glycolytic flux and increased TCA cycle flux compared with undifferentiated cells, indicating a shift to oxidative metabolism via differentiation. Based on the finding, the inhibition of ATP synthase by oligomycin treatment significantly suppressed differentiation of K562 cells, suggesting that the activation of oxidative metabolism is required for proper differentiation of K562 cells.

Keywords: (13)C-metabolic flux analysis; Erythropoiesis; Glycolysis; K562; Oxidative phosphorylation.