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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Modeling Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Injury in Proximal Tubular Epithelial Cells
Published on: November 21, 2025
Erythropoietin Receptor Activation Protects the Kidney From Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Apoptosis by Activating
1Department of Nephrology, Center of Electronic Science Technology and University of Electronic Science and Technology, Sichuan Academy of Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Apoptosis plays an important role in renal ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury. Evidence has shown that erythropoietin (EPO) has an antiapoptotic effect. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect and potential mechanism of EPO in renal IR injury.
Methods:
Kidney IR injury in rats was established by clamping the left renal artery for 30 minutes followed by 24 hours of reperfusion, along with contralateral nephrectomy. Renal function, renal histology, and expression of EPOR, p-EPOR, ERK, p-ERK, p-p53, p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, Bad, and Bax were examined.
Results:
Pretreatment with EPO significantly reduced renal dysfunction, pathologic change, and expression of Bad and Bax. Furthermore, EPO treatment enhanced the expression of p-ERK, p-p53, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xl with no influence on the expression of EPOR, ERK, and p53.
Conclusions:
These findings demonstrated that EPO pretreatment can attenuate renal IR injury by inhibiting apoptosis by promoting activation of the ERK/p53 signaling.
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