Institute of Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty and Zürich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
J Physiol. 2011 Mar 15;589(Pt 6):1259-64. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.196147. Epub 2011 Jan 31.
As the basic function of erythropoietin (Epo) is stimulation of red blood cell production, systemic overexpression of Epo results in erythrocytosis. The patho-physiological consequences of chronically elevated red blood cell counts have been studied in Epo overexpressing mice. Genetically modified mice, however, have also played an important role in discovering multiple additional functions of Epo besides stimulating erythrocyte production. Non-erythropoietic functions of Epo are widespread and play a role in organogenesis during early embryonic development and in tissue protection in ischaemic diseases. Future work in the field will most likely focus on these additional functions of Epo, which have great clinical potential.
由于促红细胞生成素（Epo）的基本功能是刺激红细胞生成，因此全身性过表达 Epo 会导致红细胞增多症。在过表达 Epo 的小鼠中已经研究了慢性升高的红细胞计数的病理生理后果。然而，基因修饰小鼠在发现 Epo 除了刺激红细胞生成之外的多种其他功能方面也发挥了重要作用。Epo 的非促红细胞生成功能广泛存在，并在早期胚胎发育中的器官发生和缺血性疾病中的组织保护中发挥作用。该领域的未来工作可能将主要集中在 Epo 的这些额外功能上，这些功能具有巨大的临床潜力。
