The Sound of Evolution
Darbepoetin
Mechanism of action:
Darbepoetin is a recombinant human erythropoietin. Darbepoetin binds to the erythropoietin receptor on erythroid progenitor cells. Once activated, this receptor initiates the JAK2-STAT5 signaling pathway, promoting cell survival and differentiation. Through the same receptor, darbepoetin also stimulates the maturation of BFU-E (burst-forming unit-erythroid) and CFU-E (colony-forming unit-erythroid) cells in the bone marrow, increasing reticulocyte production and thereby raising peripheral red blood cell counts and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration.
Reference(s):
1. LaMontagne KR et al. (2006). Recombinant epoetins do not stimulate tumor growth in erythropoietin receptor-positive breast carcinoma models. Mol Cancer Ther.
2. Kokhaei P et al. (2007). Expression of erythropoietin receptor and in vitro functional effects of epoetins in B-cell malignancies. Clin Cancer Res.
3. Chen X et al. (2002). TTD: Therapeutic Target Database. Nucleic Acids Res.