title: Erythropoietin prevents early and late neuronal demise through modulation of Akt1 and induction of caspase 1, 3, and 8.
abstract: Erythropoietin (EPO) modulates primarily the proliferation of immature erythroid precursors, but little is known of the potential protective mechanisms of EPO in the central nervous system. We therefore examined the ability of EPO to modulate a series of death-related cellular pathways during anoxia and free radical induced neuronal degeneration. Neuronal injury was evaluated by trypan blue, DNA fragmentation, membrane phosphatidylserine exposure, protein kinase B phosphorylation, cysteine protease activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphorylation. We demonstrate that constitutive neuronal EPO is insufficient to prevent cellular injury, but that signaling through the EPO receptor remains biologically responsive to exogenous EPO administration. Exogenous EPO is both necessary and sufficient to prevent acute genomic DNA destruction and subsequent phagocytosis through membrane PS exposure, because neuronal protection by EPO is completely abolished by co-treatment with an anti-EPO neutralizing antibody. Through pathways that involve the initial activation of protein kinase B, EPO maintains mitochondrial membrane potential. Subsequently, EPO inhibits caspase 8-, caspase 1-, and caspase 3-like activities linked to cytochrome c release through mechanisms that are independent from the MAP kinase systems of p38 and JNK. Elucidating some of the novel neuroprotective pathways employed by EPO may further the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative disorders.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cellular and Molecular Cerebral Ischemia, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Zhao Zhong
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Shi-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jing-Qiong
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maiese
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020170:Caspase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3; D053181:Caspase 8; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019610:Cytoprotection / Q000502:physiology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010718:Phosphatidylserines; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin; D004921:Erythropoietin; D009569:Nitric Oxide; C494920:Akt1 protein, rat; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; C505528:Casp8 protein, rat; C506435:Casp9 protein, rat; D053148:Caspase 3; D053181:Caspase 8; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases; D020170:Caspase 1