NmU and c-myb have similar expression profiles in primary CD34⁺ cells undergoing in vitro erythroid differentiation. CD34⁺ cells from cord blood were cultured in the presence of IL-3, IL-6, and SCF. At day 6, EPO was added to the cultures without and with NmU. RNA was isolated from the cells at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 10 days in culture and reverse transcribed to yield cDNA, which was used with gene-specific primers to amplify (A) NmU, (B) c-myb, or (C) NMUR1 and normalized to 18S. The quantitative real-time PCR data are the mean of triplicate determinations and representative of 2 independent experiments.