Journal
ACTA HISTOCHEMICA ET CYTOCHEMICA
Volume 47, Issue 6, Pages 265-271Publisher
JAPAN SOC HISTOCHEMISTRY & CYTOCHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1267/ahc.14032
Keywords
ICGN mice; glomerular endothelial cells; endothelial mesenchymal transition; glomerulosclerosis; chronic kidney disease
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Sports and Culture of Japan [20590398, 23590458, 26860268]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [23590458, 20590398, 26860268] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The ICR-derived glomerulonephritis (ICGN) mouse is a unique model of nephrotic syndrome, and albuminuria becomes evident in a neonatal stage, due to a genetic mutation of tensin2. We previously provided evidence that an apparent decrease in nephrin, caused by tensin2-deficiencient states, leads to podocytopathy, albuminuria and eventually, chronic renal failure. In general, glomerular endothelial cells (ECs) function as a barrier through tight attachment of glomerular basement membrane to podocytes, while decreased ECs can worsen renal failure. Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether glomerular ECs are altered under the tensin-2-deficient states during the manifestation of chronic renal failure. Herein, we examined the changes of glomerular ECs, with focus on the expression of PECAM-1 and VE-cadherin (EC-specific markers), or of alpha-SMA (myofibroblast marker) in this mouse model by histological methods. Compared with the non-nephrotic (+/nep) mice, the nephrotic (nep/ nep) mice exhibited the reduced expression of PECAM-1, or of VE-cadherin, in glomerular area. Notably, some glomerular ECs showed the positive stainings for both PECAM-1 and alpha-SMA, suggesting endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) during progression of glomerular sclerosis. This is the first report showing that a decrease in glomerular ECs, at least in part, via EndoMT is involved in tensin2-deficient pathological conditions.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available