Abstract

PENUELA B., OSCAR ANDRÉS  and  GOMEZ R., LINA ANDREA. ERYTHROPOIETIN: ALÉM DA PROLIFERAÇÃO E DA MADURAÇÃO ERITROIDEBEYOND ITS ROLE IN ERYTHROID LINEAGE. rev.fac.med [online]. 2010, vol.18, n.1, pp.67-76. ISSN 0121-5256.

Vertebrate hematopoietic system requires some mechanisms that granted constitutive renewal of older blood cells. This task is done by pluripotent and multipotent stem cells, among them the erythroid lineage. These cells have two remarkable qualities: first, they can be grown indefinitely and maintain a normal karyotype and second, they can be induced to differentiate into specific cell lines, e.g. erythroblast and erythrocytes. Erythropoietin (EPO) is the key factor of this process. This cytokine allows differentiation and proliferation of immature erythroid component. There is increasing evidence reporting that EPO also helps to maintain viability of circulating mature red blood cells. In addition, many non-erythroid functions for this cytokine are being documented, offering patients new therapeutic alternatives to tissular ischemia. We have reviewed some critical aspects of EPO biology, physiology, and its relationship with mature erythrocyte apoptosis.

Keywords : erythropoietin; erythropoiesis; apoptosis.

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