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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Development of Human Renal Tubular Epithelial Cell Primary Cultures in Monolayers and Three-Dimensional Conditions
Published on: June 13, 2025
Epoetin delta reduces oxidative stress in primary human renal tubular cells
Annelies De Beuf1, Xiang-hua Hou, Patrick C D'Haese
1Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Faculties of Medicine and Biomedical, Pharmaceutical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
Abstract:
Erythropoietin (EPO) exerts (renal) tissue protective effects. Since it is unclear whether this is a direct effect of EPO on the kidney or not, we investigated whether EPO is able to protect human renal tubular epithelial cells (hTECs) from oxidative stress and if so which pathways are involved. EPO (epoetin delta) could protect hTECs against oxidative stress by a dose-dependent inhibition of reactive oxygen species formation. This protective effect is possibly related to the membranous expression of the EPO receptor (EPOR) since our data point to the membranous EPOR expression as a prerequisite for this protective effect. Oxidative stress reduction went along with the upregulation of renoprotective genes. Whilst three of these, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), aquaporin-1 (AQP-1), and B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) have already been associated with EPO-induced renoprotection, this study for the first time suggests carboxypeptidase M (CPM), dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV), and cytoglobin (Cygb) to play a role in this process.
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