ERC Advanced Grant · 2021
The brain erythropoietin cycle as driver of adaptive neuroplasticity via functional hypoxia
Cognitive disability and decline play key roles in neuropsychiatric conditions but lack effective therapies. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a hypoxia-inducible growth factor, named after its original description in erythropoiesis. We discovered - by 'reverse approach' (human trials first) - that recombinant human (rh) EPO has potent procognitive effects, hematopoiesis-independent. Searching for mechanistic insight in mice, we saw that rhEPO markedly drives differentiation/maturation of pyramidal neurons and oligodendrocytes from non-dividing precursors in cornu ammonis, outside known neurogenesis areas. In parallel, rhEPO dampens microglia. This suggests that endogenous, brain-expressed EPO…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.