EPO and neurodegenerative disease: Investigating CRLF3 as a neuroprotective Epo receptor contributes to the understanding of Epo as a neuroprotective agent and may support the development of alternative, safe treatments for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases that, unlike Epo itself, do not stimulate adverse side effects (Leist et al., 2004; Unger et al., 2010).