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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Dec 2.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Med. 2023 May;29(5):1064–1065. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02322-7

Fig. 1 |. The identification of erythropoietin-producing ‘Norn’ cells.

Fig. 1 |

Hypoxia is sensed by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), which is the primary regulator of erythropoietin (EPO) production. EPO acts on erythroid progenitors to stimulate red blood cell production. Using an Epo-tagged kidney mouse model (in which EPO expression is linked to fluorescent protein) under hypoxic conditions and single-cell RNA sequencing, the research team identified a subpopulation of stromal cells, which they termed ‘Norn cells’, as the primary source of EPO in the kidney. Norn cells express Cxcl14, Col1a1, Dcn, Lpar1, Hsd11b1, Cxcl12 and Cfh and are enriched for a variety of transcription factors including TCF21, CEBPD, GATA6 and TSHZ2. Understanding these cells may reveal new therapeutic targets for combating anemia.