In several independent model systems of differentiation such as retinoic acid-induced differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells, phorbol ester-induced differentiation of megakaryoblastic cell lines, or short chain fatty acid-induced, as well as spontaneous differentiation of colon carcinoma cells, differentiation, detected by a multitude of established markers, is accompanied by a marked induction of SERCA3 protein expression, whereas the expression of the simultaneously expressed SERCA2 isoenzyme is much less modified, or is in fact often decreased. This evidence concerns the gene ATP2A3 and colon carcinoma.