The Role of the Distal Erythropoietin Receptor in Iron Deficiency Anemia

Abstract 1312

Anemia affects the quality of life and the life expectancy of millions of people in the U.S. Many patients are either intolerant or unresponsive to available treatments, so alternative strategies are needed. Red blood cell production requires the action of erythropoietin (Epo) on red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. Iron restriction results in loss of Epo-responsiveness and anemia, despite increased serum Epo levels. Iron infusion restores Epo-responsiveness suggesting that iron dominantly regulates Epo-receptor (EpoR) signaling. Understanding how iron restriction regulates EpoR signaling pathways has major clinical significance. Agonists could offer an iron-free approach that enhances the response to Epo in anemia due to iron deficiency or chronic diseases. In addition, antagonists could be used to treat polycythemia vera or other myeloproliferative disorders. We have discovered that the aconitases, multifunctional iron-sulfur cluster proteins that convert citrate into isocitrate are key in connecting iron to Epo-signaling in early erythroid progenitors (GC Bullock, et. al. Blood 2010;116:97). We also discovered that isocitrate, the downstream product of aconitase, can enhance the effectiveness of Epo during iron deficiency in vitro and in vivo in mice with IDA. These observations suggest that isocitrate or derivatives of isocitrate that synergize with erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) have important therapeutic application in the treatment of anemia. Deletion of EpoR in mice is incompatible with life, however mice and humans that express truncated EpoR show increased production of red blood cells. These observations suggest that the distal cytoplasmic domain of the EpoR inhibits production of red cells and may play a critical role in iron deficiency anemia. EpoR mutant mice lacking the distal half of the cytoplasmic domain of the EpoR (EpoR-H mice) and mice with the same EpoR truncation mutation plus an additional mutation of tyrosine 343 (EpoR-HM mice) show near normal levels of steady state erythropoiesis. To determine the role of the distal domain in erythroid suppression during iron deficiency, EpoR-H, EpoR-HM and EpoR-wildtype mice were fed a low iron diet and compared by weekly CBCs and flow cytometry. EpoR-H mutant mice continue to efficiently produce red blood cells during iron deficiency. And this occurs despite a decrease in hemoglobin. EpoR-HM mice produce fewer rbcs than EpoR-H mice, however rbc production by EpoR-HM mice resists the suppressive effects of iron restriction. Similar experiments also suggest that the distal EpoR is necessary for the isocitrate-mediated enhancement of Epo-driven erythropoiesis. In addition to aconitase/isocitrate and the distal EpoR other candidate key signaling components of this Epo-dependent, iron-responsive pathway have been identified in our recent preliminary experiments. These components include specific protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes, AKT1 and ERK1/2. These findings support a new model of iron sensing by aconitase/isocitrate that alters EpoR signaling to decrease red blood cell production and conserve iron when supplies are low. This model fits better than older “heme-deficiency” models because disorders in heme synthesis block red cell differentiation at a later stage. This model also has potential to explain changes seen in other tissues during chronic iron deficiency. Nutritional iron restriction may have unmasked a new role for the distal EpoR in red cell development and implicated new iron-responsive Epo signaling pathways that can be used to develop new therapeutic agonists and antagonists of Epo.