GATA-1 as a regulator of mast cell differentiation revealed by the phenotype of the GATA-1low mouse mutant

Here it is shown that the phenotype of adult mice lacking the first enhancer (DNA hypersensitive site I) and the distal promoter of the GATA-1 gene (neoDeltaHS or GATA-1(low) mutants) reveals defects in mast cell development. These include the presence of morphologically abnormal alcian blue(+) mast cells and apoptotic metachromatic(-) mast cell precursors in connective tissues and peritoneal lavage and numerous (60-70% of all the progenitors) unique trilineage cells committed to erythroid, megakaryocytic, and mast pathways in the bone marrow and spleen. These abnormalities, which were mirrored by impaired mast differentiation in vitro, were reversed by retroviral-mediated expression of GATA-1 cDNA. These data indicate an essential role for GATA-1 in mast cell differentiation.