Establishment of an erythroid cell line (JK-1) that spontaneously differentiates to red cells. The authors established a new hemopoietic cell line (JK-1) from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia in erythroid crisis. This JK-1 line predominantly consists of immature cells, but a small number of mature erythroblasts and red cells can be consistently seen without any specific differentiation inducer. The JK-1 cells grow in suspension culture supplemented with human plasma and carry double Philadelphia chromosomes. Hemoglobin staining with benzidine was positive for about 20% of cells and the type of the hemoglobin was for the most part HbF. Surface-marker analysis revealed JK-1 cells positive for glycophorin A, EP-1, and HAE9. The proportion of mature cells was elevated by the addition of delta-aminolevulinic acid. Erythropoietin (EPO) enhanced the growth of JK-1 cells either in the suspension or in methylcellulose semisolid culture. The total number of EPO receptors was 940 per cell, of which 220 sites had an affinity higher than the other 720 sites. This is the first report of an established human erythroid cell line which spontaneously undergoes terminal differentiation. 