Objective To study the effects of interferon γ(IFN-γ) on terminal erythroid differentiation.Methods RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of IFN-γ receptors during erythroid differentiation of K562 induced by hemin.Both hemin-induced K562 cells and human umbilical cord CD34+ cell derived primary erythroid cells were treated with IFN-γ.Erythroid differentiation of the cells was evaluated using RT-qPCR to detect the mRNA level of erythroid specific surface markers CD71 and CD235a,and benzidine staining assay was applied to explore the change of hemoglobin expression.Results The expression of IFN-γ receptors in K562 cells decreased and climbed up again after reaching the lowest point at 48 h of hemin induction.IFN-γ treatment increased CD71 and CD235a expression in both hemin-induced K562 cells and the later stage (E15D) primary erythroid cells.Benzidine staining showing increased globin protein expression in hemin-induced K562 cells after IFN-γstimulation.Furthermore,our results indicated that IFN-γ promoted hemin-induced K562 erythroid differentiation in a time dependent manner.Mechanistically,the results showed that IFN-γ treatment stimulated the expression of erythroid transcription factors NFE2,which was critically for erythroid maturation.Conclusions IFN-γaccelerates terminal erythroid differentiation in hemin-induced K562 cells and human umbilical cord CD34+ derived primary erythroid cells.