Erythropoietin is involved in the angiogenic potential of bone marrow macrophages in multiple myeloma

Erythropoietin (Epo) is the crucial cytokine regulator of red blood cell production, and recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) is widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of anemia, primarily in kidney disease and in cancer. Increasing evidence suggests several biological roles for Epo and its receptor, Epo-R, unrelated to erythropoiesis, including angiogenesis. Epo-R has been found expressed in various non-haematopoietic cells and tissues, and in cancer cells. Here, we detected the expression of Epo-R in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMAs) from multiple myeloma (MM) and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) patients and assessed whether Epo/Epo-R axis plays a role in MM macrophage-mediated angiogenesis. We found that Epo-R is over-expressed in BMMAs from MM patients with active disease compared to MGUS patients. The treatment of BMMAs with rHuEpo significantly increased the expression and secretion of key pro-angiogenic mediators, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-1/CCL-2), through activation of JAK2/STAT5 and PI3 K/Akt pathways. In addition, the conditioned media harvested from rHuEpo-treated BMMAs enhanced bone marrow-derived endothelial cell migration and capillary morphogenesis in vitro, and induced angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane of chick embryos in vivo. Furthermore, we found an increase in the circulating levels of several pro-angiogenic cytokines in serum of MM patients with anemia under treatment with Epo. Our findings highlight the direct effect of rHuEpo on macrophage-mediated production of pro-angiogenic factors, suggesting that Epo/Epo-R pathway may be involved in the regulation of angiogenic response occurring in MM.