Fig. 1

ALA promotes erythroid differentiation of CD123⁺ CD45RA^– CD71^– progenitors. A A schematic of the design of the experiments used to analyze the impact of 50 μg/mL ALA on hematopoietic-cell differentiation. B Flow cytometry assays of CD11b^– CD71⁺ GPA⁺ erythrocytes, CD66b⁺ CD14^– neutrophils, and CD66b^– CD14⁺ monocytes were performed on day 14 in the presence or absence of ALA treatment. C Statistical analysis of the percentages of  CD71⁺ GPA⁺ erythrocytes in CD11b^– cells, CD66b⁺ CD14^– neutrophils, CD66b⁺CD14⁺ monocytes and CD66b^– CD14⁺ monocytes in single live cells derived from CD34⁺ HSPCs. D A schematic plot shows the surface markers changing characteristic of erythroid differentiation from CMP. E Cytometry flow assays of CD71⁺ GPA⁺ erythrocytes derived from CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD71⁺ GPA^– CFU-E enriched progenitors, CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD71⁺ GPA^int/low proerythroblasts enriched progenitors, and CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD123⁺ CD71^– GPA^– CMP enriched progenitors were performed on day 14 in the presence or absence of ALA treatment. F Statistical analysis of the percentage of CD71⁺ GPA⁺ erythrocytes derived from CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD71⁺GPA^– progenitors, CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD71⁺ GPA⁺ erythrocyte progenitors, and CD45RA^– CD11b^– CD123⁺ CD71^– GPA^– CMP-like progenitors were performed on day 14 in the presence or absence of ALA treatment. All the progenitors were sorted from ex vivo cultures of CD34⁺ HSPCs on day 4. The data in the bar graphs in panels (C, F) represent the mean ± SD. An unpaired Student’s t-test (2-tailed) was performed. N = 3–4 replicates; n.s: no significance, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001