Sasaki Ryuzo
Department of Life Style Studies, School of Human Cultures, The University of Shiga, Shiga.
Intern Med. 2003 Feb;42(2):142-9. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.42.142.
Erythropoietin (EPO) produced by the fetal liver and adult kidney is an essential stimulator of erythropoiesis. EPO production is regulated through hypoxic activation of gene transcription and possibly hypoxia-induced stabilization of its mRNA. In the liver of early embryos in which EPO production poorly responds to hypoxia, retinoic acid may be an important stimulator. In this decade, new sites of EPO production have been found: central nervous system and reproductive organs. These tissues have a paracrine and/or autocrine system of EPO, which is independent of the endocrine system (kidney/bone marrow) in adult erythropoiesis. In the central nervous system, astrocytes are the main producers of EPO, while EPO receptor is expressed in neurons. EPO protects neurons from a various types of damage. The uterine EPO is likely involved in the estrogen-dependent angiogenesis of the endometrial layer. The possible functions of EPO in other tissues and tissue-characteristic regulation of EPO production are also discussed in this review.
由胎儿肝脏和成人肾脏产生的促红细胞生成素（EPO）是红细胞生成的重要刺激因子。EPO的产生通过基因转录的低氧激活以及可能的低氧诱导的mRNA稳定性来调节。在早期胚胎肝脏中，EPO产生对低氧反应不佳，视黄酸可能是重要的刺激因子。在这十年中，发现了EPO产生的新部位：中枢神经系统和生殖器官。这些组织具有EPO的旁分泌和/或自分泌系统，其在成人红细胞生成中独立于内分泌系统（肾脏/骨髓）。在中枢神经系统中，星形胶质细胞是EPO的主要产生者，而EPO受体在神经元中表达。EPO保护神经元免受各种类型的损伤。子宫EPO可能参与子宫内膜层的雌激素依赖性血管生成。本文还讨论了EPO在其他组织中的可能功能以及EPO产生的组织特征性调节。
