The specificity of 26S proteasomes' endoribonuclease activity has been shown to be changed under effect of erythroid differentiation (hemin) and programmed cell death (diethylmaleate) inductors in proerythroleukemic K562 cells. Treatment of K562 cells with apoptosis and differentiation inductors leads to the specific stimulation of RNase activity towards certain mRNA and to reduction of proteasome RNase activity towards other mRNA. The enzymatic activity under study has been demonstrated to be specifically and selectively dependent on phosphorylation of 26S proteasome subunits as well as on Mg and Ca ions. The conclusion is drawn that the specificity of the proteasomes' RNAse activity is regulated during differentiation and apoptosis, and selective regulation of the activity of different nuclease centers is suggested, the mechanism involving changes in phosphorylation of proteasome subunits and cation homeostasis.