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Protein / target

Erythropoietin

Encoded byEPOP01588Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
UniProt: P01588Ensembl: ENSG00000130427HGNC: HGNC:3415NCBI Gene: 2056
Antibody-tractable
Druggability
UniProt loc high conf
2
Research papers

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Protein kinase activator

Strongest disease association

Anemia

Via encoding gene EPO · Genetic evidence · score 0.62

Research activity

Emerging research

2 papers · latest 2025

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Hormone involved in the regulation of erythrocyte proliferation and differentiation and the maintenance of a physiological level of circulating erythrocyte mass.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Hormone involved in the regulation of erythrocyte proliferation and differentiation and the maintenance of a physiological level of circulating erythrocyte mass (PubMed:28283061). Binds to EPOR leading to EPOR dimerization and JAK2 activation thereby activating specific downstream effectors, including STAT1 and STAT3 (PubMed:9774108)

Subcellular location

Secreted
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (38)

Gene Ontology

  • Ccell body
  • Ccell surface
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cextracellular space
  • Fcytokine activity
  • Ferythropoietin receptor binding
  • Fhormone activity
  • Fprotein kinase activator activity
  • Pacute-phase response
  • Pblood circulation
  • Pcell surface receptor signaling pathway via STAT
  • Pcellular hyperosmotic response

193 aa · 21 kDa

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Cell proliferation & survivalGOImmune signallingGOTranscriptional regulationGO
View supporting evidence

Cell proliferation & survival

  • ·positive regulation of cell population proliferation

Immune signalling

  • ·cytokine activity
  • ·positive regulation of activated T cell proliferation
  • ·response to interleukin-1

Transcriptional regulation

  • ·negative regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II
  • ·positive regulation of DNA-templated transcription

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene EPO

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene EPO that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Anemia
0.67Moderately supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.41

Autosomal dominant secondary polycythemia
0.61Moderately supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.37

Diabetic Retinopathy
0.52Moderately supported

Genetic literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.38

Hypothyroidism
0.41Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.24

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
0.30Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.15

View evidence synthesis (5)
AnemiaModerately supported
0.67
agreement 0.54–0.81
Genetic82%Literature19%

Open Targets aggregate 0.41 · 2 independent evidence families

Autosomal dominant secondary polycythemiaModerately supported
0.61
agreement 0.49–0.73
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.37 · 1 independent evidence family

Diabetic RetinopathyModerately supported
0.52
agreement 0.37–0.67
Genetic literature88%Literature13%

Open Targets aggregate 0.38 · 2 independent evidence families

HypothyroidismLimited support
0.41
agreement 0.27–0.55
Genetic94%Literature6%

Open Targets aggregate 0.24 · 2 independent evidence families

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2Limited support
0.30
agreement 0.16–0.44
Genetic68%Literature32%

Open Targets aggregate 0.15 · 2 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Anemia0.41
Diabetic Retinopathy0.38
Autosomal dominant secondary polycythemia0.37
Hypothyroidism0.24
Neurodegenerative Diseases0.18
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 20.15
Diabetes Mellitus0.14

Tractability

Antibodies — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (3)
AB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMM

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Research activity

2 papers · to 2025

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

History of Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents, the Development of Biosimilars, and the Future of Anemia Treatment in Nephrology.46 cites

Kalantar-Zadeh K · American journal of nephrology · 2017

Recent

An Overview of Neuroprotective Effects of Erythropoietin Against Neurological Disorders: Beyond Erythropoiesis.

Bhushan B · Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology · 2025

History of Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents, the Development of Biosimilars, and the Future of Anemia Treatment in Nephrology.

Kalantar-Zadeh K · American journal of nephrology · 2017

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.