Production of Erythropoietin (EPO)

Role of Erythropoietin in the Body

Our kidneys produce a substance called Erythropoietin (EPO) — a hormone that enters the bone marrow through the bloodstream. EPO stimulates bone marrow cells to divide and produce more red blood cells (RBCs).

• People with severely damaged or non-functioning kidneys often require regular dialysis.

• During dialysis, EPO is removed from the blood, leading to a significant reduction in RBC count.

• As a result, the patient develops anemia.

Preparation Process of EPO

The process of preparing EPO is as follows:

1. Isolation of EPO gene from the human body.

2. Insertion of the gene into a suitable vector (plasmid) by cutting it with restriction enzymes and joining it using ligase enzymes.

3. Introduction of recombinant DNA into E. coli bacteria.

4. Cultivation of thousands of E. coli bacteria containing the recombinant DNA in a culture medium.

5. Extraction of EPO protein from E. coli to prepare the drug.

Medical Application

Thousands of kidney patients are injected with EPO produced in E. coli to treat anemia effectively.