Clinical indications for erythropoietin (EPO) in the vascular system reach far beyond the treatment of anemia, but the development of EPO as a non‐toxic agent rests heavily upon the cellular pathways controlled by EPO that require elucidation.

We modulated gene activity and examined cellular trafficking of critical pathways during oxidative stress that may work in concert with EPO to protect primary cerebral endothelial cells (ECs) during oxidative stress, namely protein kinase B (Akt1), 14‐3‐3 protein, the Forkhead transcription factor FOXO3a.

Here, we show that preservation of ECs by EPO during oxygen‐glucose deprivation (OGD) required the initial activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI‐3K) pathway through Akt1, since specific pharmacological blockade of Akt1 activity or gene silencing of Akt1 prevented EC protection by EPO. EPO subsequently involved a series of anti‐apoptotic pathways to activate STAT3, STAT5, and ERK 1/2. Furthermore, EPO maintained the inhibitory phosphorylation and integrity of the ‘pro‐apoptotic’ transcription factor FOXO3a, promoted the binding of FOXO3a to 14‐3‐3 protein and regulated the intracellular trafficking of FOXO3a. Additionally, gene silencing of FOXO3a during OGD significantly increased EC survival, but did not synergistically improve cytoprotection by EPO, illustrating that EPO relied upon the blockade of the FOXO3a pathway.

Our work defines a novel cytoprotective pathway in ECs that involves PI‐3 K, STAT3, STAT5, ERK 1/2, 14‐3‐3 protein and FOXO3a, which can be targeted for the development of EPO as a clinically effective and safe agent in the vascular system.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2007) 150, 839–850. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707161