Recombinant human erythropoietin stimulates vascular endothelial growth factor release by glomerular endothelial cells

We designed the present study to address the question of whether recombinan t human erythropoietin stimulates DNA synthesis and vascular endothelial gr owth factor (VEGF) secretion in vitro using cultured bovine glomerular endo thelial cells (GENs). Recombinant human erythropoietin dose-dependently sti mulated the proliferation of GENs in culture, and this proliferative effect was inhibited by 1 mu g/ml anti-VEGF antiserum. The increase in VEGF conce ntrations in the supernatants containing 10 U/ml rHuEpo was abolished by in cubation with 10 mu g/ml of anti-human rHuEPO antiserum, 0.2 mu g/ml actino mycin D or 10 mu g/ml cycloheximide. Taken together, rHuEpo stimulates GEN proliferation in vitro and VEGF release from these tells is associated with stimulation of RNA-dependent DNA and protein synthesis. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.