Lack of Effect of Plasma Erythropoietin on Formate Incorporation into nucleic Acids in vitro

Abstract

RECENTLY, Perretta and Thomson¹ published a report on the marked stimulatory action exerted by a preparation of erythropoietin on the incorporation of formate labelled with carbon-14 into the bases of spleen and liver-slice nucleic acids. This same preparation, they reported, had no such action on marrow suspensions incubated under the same conditions. Since this finding appeared to offer a useful approach to the biochemical examination of the mechanism of action of erythropoietin and might also furnish a rapid sensitive in vitro assay for the hormone we undertook a confirmatory investigation. Instead of the extract of alcohol-precipitated urine from anæmic rabbits we used a partially purified sheep plasma fraction, with the results summarized here. These results do not confirm the findings of Perretta and Thomson.