Inducer-mediated murine erythroleukemia cell (MELC) differentiation provides a model for examining factors determining terminal cell differentiation. The nuclear protein, p53, has been implicated as a potential determinant of cell cycle progression and cell differentiation. In this study p53 content and synthesis, during inducer-mediated MELC differentiation, has been examined with monoclonal antibodies to p53. A decrease in p53 synthesis and content was demonstrated during induced differentiation. As determined by cell cycle fractionation, the decrease in p53 is manifest at all stages of the cell cycle. Hemin, which induces globin mRNA accumulation but not terminal cell division, fails to decrease p53 content. A MELC variant resistant to inducer-mediated commitment to terminal cell division also fails to decrease p53 levels in response to inducers. These experiments suggest that p53 is implicated in MELC cell proliferation and that an induced decrease in p53 may be responsible for GI phase prolongation and terminal GI arrest.The murine erythroleukemia cell (MELC), a virus-transformed erythroid cell precursor approximating the erythroid colonyforming unit (designated CFUe) stage in the erythropoietic lineage (1), provides a model for study of regulatory mechanisms responsible for coordinate unlinked gene expression (a-and 13-globin mRNA accumulation) and initiation of terminal cell divisions (termed commitment) during cell differentiation (2, 3). MELC can be induced by hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA), dimethylsulfoxide (Me2SO), or other chemical agents to initiate a program of differentiation that appears similar to that of normal erythroid precursors (1, 4). Of particular advantage is the availability of different inducers capable of initiating distinct developmental patterns (5, 6) and variant cell lines resistant to inducer-mediated commitment to terminal cell division but competent to express other features of erythroid differentiation (7).An early manifestation of termination of cell division in MELC appears to be a transient prolongation of the GI phase of the cell cycle, which can be detected after cell transit through one complete S phase in the presence of inducer (8-10). After up to 4-5 terminal cell divisions, induced MELC are arrested in a GI-like phase of the cell cycle. Evidence has accumulated suggesting that synthesis of a labile protein during G1 may control entry of cells into S phase (11). A nuclear protein (p53 protein), initially recognized by its elevated levels in transformed cells (12) and by its capacity to bind to simian virus 40 (SV40) tumor antigen (13,14), has been identified as possibly important in determining normal cell cycle progression from G1 to S (15, 16). It also has been suggested that p53 protein levels may be regulated in relation to the differentiation status of a cell lineage (17,18). Based upon a number of observations, it appears that cellular p53 content is determined by both transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms (17)(18)(19)(20). The present...