Crystal structure of Xenopus laevis erythropoietin

Meguro, Mizue; Adachi, Motoyasu; Okazaki, Nobuo; Tamada, Taro; Kuroki, Ryota; Kato, Takashi

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein regulating the level of erythrocytes. We have first identified EPO from Xenopus laevis. The proliferation assay of xlEPO prepared using E. coli expression system showed that xlEPO stimulates proliferation of cells expressing xlEPO receptors and the cells expressing huEPO receptors. Cross activity between xlEPO and huEPO against corresponding receptors suggests that receptor recognition scheme of xlEPO is conserved with that of huEPO. Further, we have succeeded in crystallization of recombinant EPO from Xenopus laevis by sitting drop vapor diffusion method. The X-ray diffraction data at 2.9 was obtained. The phase was determined molecular replacement method.