Hemoglobin Synthesis in Marrow Cell Culture: the Effect of Rat Plasma on Rat Cells.

In cultures of rat marrow cells essentially all of the labeled iron which was incorporated into heme was shown to be in hemoglobin. Iron bound to rat plasma was incorporated into hemoglobin to a greater extent than was iron bound to fetal calf serum. Incorporation of iron bound to rat plasma was greater when some fetal calf serum was present than when rat plasma provided the total protein. These data suggest preferential use of homologous iron-binding proteins of the plasma.