Epo - erythropoietin

This gene encodes the glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin that regulates the production of red blood cells and biosynthesis of hemoglobin. The predominant expression of this gene shifts from the liver during fetal development to kidney in adults. A complete lack of the encoded protein causes embryonic lethal anemia in mice. The conditional inactivation of this gene in adult mice results in a chronic, normocytic and normochromic anemia. Transgenic mice expressing the human ortholog of this gene exhibit polycythemia. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2015]