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Isolation and characterization of genomic and cDNA clones of human erythropoietin

Nature volume 313, pages 806–810 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

The glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin regulates the level of oxygen in the blood by modulating the number of circulating erythrocytes, and is produced in the kidney1–4 or liver5,6 of adult and the liver7,8 of fetal or neonatal mammals. Neither the precise cell types that produce erythropoietin nor the mechanisms by which the same or different cells measure the circulating oxygen concentration and consequently regulate erythropoietin production (for review see ref. 9) are known. Cells responsive to erythropoietin have been identified in the adult bone marrow10, fetal liver11 or adult spleen12. In cultures of erythropoietic progenitors, erythropoietin stimulates proliferation and differentiation to more mature red blood cells. Detailed molecular studies have been hampered, however, by the impurity and heterogeneity of target cell populations and the difficulty of obtaining significant quantities of the purified hormone. Highly purified erythropoietin may be useful in the treatment of various forms of anaemia, particularly in chronic renal failure13–15. Here we describe the cloning of the human erythropoietin gene and the expression of an erythropoietin cDNA clone in a transient mammalian expression system to yield a secreted product with biological activity.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Makoto Kawakita: Kumamoto University, 39-1 Kurokami 2-Chorne, Kumamoto-shi, 860 Japan

  2. Tomoe Shimizu: Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio 45439, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetics Institute, Inc., 225 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Kenneth Jacobs, Charles Shoemaker, Richard Rudersdorf, Suzanne D. Neill, Randal J. Kaufman, Allan Mufson, Jasbir Seehra, Simon S. Jones, Rodney Hewick, Edward F. Fritsch, Makoto Kawakita, Tomoe Shimizu & Takaji Miyake

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Jacobs, K., Shoemaker, C., Rudersdorf, R. et al. Isolation and characterization of genomic and cDNA clones of human erythropoietin. Nature 313, 806–810 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/313806a0

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