Analysis of the genomic architecture of a complex trait locus in hypertensive rat models links to kidney damage.

Unraveling the genetic susceptibility of complex diseases such as chronic kidney disease remains challenging. Here, we used inbred rat models of kidney damage associated with elevated blood pressure for the comprehensive analysis of a major albuminuria susceptibility locus detected in these models. We characterized its genomic architecture by congenic substitution mapping, targeted next-generation sequencing, and compartment-specific RNA sequencing analysis in isolated glomeruli.

Disparate phospho-Smad2 levels in advanced type 2 diabetes patients with diabetic nephropathy and early experimental db/db mouse model.

Uncontrolled activation of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) family members is hypothesized to participate in type 2 diabetes (T2D) dependent diabetic nephropathy (DN). We evaluated and compared downstream activation of the Smad2-signaling pathway in kidney samples from T2D patients to kidneys from the T2D model of leptin receptor deficient db/db mouse. Furthermore, expression of TGF-β family members was evaluated to elucidate molecular mechanisms in the mouse model.

Carnosine Attenuates the Development of both Type 2 Diabetes and Diabetic Nephropathy in BTBR ob/ob Mice.

We previously demonstrated that polymorphisms in the carnosinase-1 gene (CNDP1) determine the risk of nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Carnosine, the substrate of the enzyme encoded by this gene, is considered renoprotective and could possibly be used to treat diabetic nephropathy (DN). In this study, we examined the effect of carnosine treatment in vivo in BTBR (Black and Tan, BRachyuric) ob/ob mice, a type 2 diabetes model which develops a phenotype that closely resembles advanced human DN.

Smad2 Phosphorylation in Diabetic Kidney Tubule Epithelial Cells Is Associated with Modulation of Several Transforming Growth Factor-β Family Members.

Background: The role of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) has recently gained much attention in diabetic nephropathy and kidney fibrosis. In this study, we extend this to an assessment of transcriptional regulation of the entire TGF-β superfamily in kidneys from diabetic vs. healthy mice.

Apolipoprotein C-I plays a role in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis.

Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Diabetic patients have increased plasma concentrations of apolipoprotein C-I (apoCI), and meta-analyses found that a polymorphism in APOC1 is associated with an increased risk of developing nephropathy. To investigate whether overexpressing apoCI contributes to the development of kidney damage, we studied renal tissue and peritoneal macrophages from APOC1 transgenic (APOC1-tg) mice and wild-type littermates.

Donor Genotype and Intragraft Expression of CYP3A5 Reflect the Response to Steroid Treatment During Acute Renal Allograft Rejection.

Background: Glucocorticoid (GC)-refractory acute rejection (AR) is a risk factor for inferior renal allograft outcome. We investigated genetic predisposition to the response to steroid treatment of acute allograft rejection.

Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes involved in GC signaling (GR, GLCCI1) and drug metabolism and transport (CYP3A5, ABCB1, and PXR) were analyzed in kidney transplant recipients (1995-2005, Leiden cohort, n = 153) treated with methylprednisolone.

Modelling TFE renal cell carcinoma in mice reveals a critical role of WNT signaling.

-fusion renal cell carcinomas (-fusion ) are caused by chromosomal translocations that lead to overexpression of the and genes (Kauffman et al., 2014). The mechanisms leading to kidney tumor development remain uncharacterized and effective therapies are yet to be identified.

Dose-Titrated Vasopressin V2 Receptor Antagonist Improves Renoprotection in a Mouse Model for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Background: In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, renoprotective treatment with a vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist (V2RA) is given in a fixed dose (FD). Disease progression and drug habituation could diminish treatment efficacy. We investigated whether the renoprotective effect of the V2RA can be improved by dose titration of the V2RA aiming to maintain aquaresis at a high level.

Inhibition of Activin Signaling Slows Progression of Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), characterized by the formation of numerous kidney cysts, is caused by PKD1 or PKD2 mutations and affects 0.1% of the population. Although recent clinical studies indicate that reduction of cAMP levels slows progression of PKD, this finding has not led to an established safe and effective therapy for patients, indicating the need to find new therapeutic targets.

Aerobic and resistance training do not influence plasma carnosinase content or activity in type 2 diabetes.

A particular allele of the carnosinase gene (CNDP1) is associated with reduced plasma carnosinase activity and reduced risk for nephropathy in diabetic patients. On the one hand, animal and human data suggest that hyperglycemia increases plasma carnosinase activity. On the other hand, we recently reported lower carnosinase activity levels in elite athletes involved in high-intensity exercise compared with untrained controls.

Intrinsic carnosine metabolism in the human kidney.

Histidine-containing dipeptides like carnosine and anserine have protective functions in both health and disease. Animal studies suggest that carnosine can be metabolized within the kidney. The goal of this study was to obtain evidence of carnosine metabolism in the human kidney and to provide insight with regards to diabetic nephropathy.

UPF0586 Protein C9orf41 Homolog Is Anserine-producing Methyltransferase.

Anserine (β-alanyl-N(Pi)-methyl-L-histidine), a methylated derivative of carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine), is an abundant constituent of vertebrate skeletal muscles. Although it has been suggested to serve as a proton buffer and radical scavenger, its physiological function remains mysterious. The formation of anserine is catalyzed by carnosine N-methyltransferase, recently identified in chicken as histamine N-methyltransferase-like (HNMT-like) protein.

Scattered Deletion of PKD1 in Kidneys Causes a Cystic Snowball Effect and Recapitulates Polycystic Kidney Disease.

In total, 1 in 1000 individuals carries a germline mutation in the PKD1 or PKD2 gene, which leads to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Cysts can form early in life and progressively increase in number and size during adulthood. Extensive research has led to the presumption that somatic inactivation of the remaining allele initiates the formation of cysts, and the progression is further accelerated by renal injury.

Does low serum carnosinase activity favor high-intensity exercise capacity?

Given the ergogenic properties of β-alanyl-L-histidine (carnosine) in skeletal muscle, it can be hypothesized that elevated levels of circulating carnosine could equally be advantageous for high-intensity exercises. Serum carnosinase (CN1), the enzyme hydrolyzing the dipeptide, is highly active in the human circulation. Consequently, dietary intake of carnosine usually results in rapid degradation upon absorption, yet this is less pronounced in subjects with low CN1 activity.

In vivo imaging of disease-modified glomerular extracellular matrix in renal disease.

Chaudhary and colleagues describe an in vivo imaging technique for detecting altered glomerular extracellular matrix after development of glomerulonephritis. Using fluorochrome-labeled Fab fragments of the human monoclonal antibody F1.1 against the NC1 domain of the α3 chain of collagen type IV, in vivo binding is shown in glomeruli from mice with nephritis, while the activation of complement and Fc receptors is prevented.

Renal ischemia-reperfusion induces release of angiopoietin-2 from human grafts of living and deceased donors.

Background: Recent insights suggest that endothelial cell (EC) activation plays a major role in renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Interactions between ECs and pericytes via signaling molecules, including angiopoietins, are involved in maintenance of the vascular integrity. Experimental data have shown that enhancement of Angiopoietin (Ang)-1 signaling might be beneficial in renal I/R injury.

Cyst expansion and regression in a mouse model of polycystic kidney disease.

Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease is characterized by progressive cyst formation and fibrosis in the kidneys. Here we describe an orthologous Pkd1(nl,nl) mouse model, with reduced expression of the normal Pkd1 transcript, on a fixed genetic background of equal parts C57Bl/6 and 129Ola/Hsd mice (B6Ola-Pkd1(nl,nl)). In these mice, the first cysts develop from mature proximal tubules around birth.

Accelerated antibody-mediated graft loss of rodent pancreatic islets after pretreatment with dexamethasone-treated immature donor dendritic cells.

Background: Allogeneic islets of Langerhans transplantation is hampered in its success as a curative treatment of type 1 diabetes by the absence of potent, specific, and nontoxic immunosuppressive drugs. Here, we assessed whether donor bone marrow-derived dexamethasone-treated dendritic cells (dexDCs) could prolong islet allograft survival in a full major histocompatibility complex mismatch rat model.

Methods: Rodent allogeneic islet transplantation was performed from DA rats to Lewis rats and vice versa.

Low plasma carnosinase activity promotes carnosinemia after carnosine ingestion in humans.

A polymorphism in the carnosine dipeptidase-1 gene (CNDP1), resulting in decreased plasma carnosinase activity, is associated with a reduced risk for diabetic nephropathy. Because carnosine, a natural scavenger/suppressor of ROS, advanced glycation end products, and reactive aldehydes, is readily degraded in blood by the highly active carnosinase enzyme, it has been postulated that low serum carnosinase activity might be advantageous to reduce diabetic complications. The aim of this study was to examine whether low carnosinase activity promotes circulating carnosine levels after carnosine supplementation in humans.

Pregnancy close to the edge: an immunosuppressive infiltrate in the chorionic plate of placentas from uncomplicated egg cell donation.

In pregnancies achieved after egg donation (ED) tolerance towards a completely allogeneic fetus is mediated by several complex immunoregulatory mechanisms, of which numerous aspects are still unknown. A distinct lesion not described previously in the literature, was repeatedly found in the chorionic plate in a substantial portion of placentas from ED pregnancies, but never in placentas from normal term pregnancies. The aim of this study was to assess its origin and its cellular composition.

Dose-dependent effects of sirolimus on mTOR signaling and polycystic kidney disease.

Inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) shows beneficial effects in animal models of polycystic kidney disease (PKD); however, two clinical trials in patients with autosomal dominant PKD failed to demonstrate a short-term benefit in either the early or progressive stages of disease. The stage of disease during treatment and the dose of mTOR inhibitors may account for these differing results. Here, we studied the effects of a conventional low dose and a higher dose of sirolimus (blood levels of 3 ng/ml and 30-60 ng/ml, respectively) on mTOR activity and renal cystic disease in two Pkd1-mutant mouse models at different stages of the disease.

Morphometric analysis of centrosome position in tissues.

Planar cell polarity (PCP) is the polarization of cells within the plane of an epithelial cell layer. PCP is important in many tissues in different processes. In the kidney, it is hypothesized to be important in acquiring and maintaining correct tubular diameter.

CYP3A5 genotype-phenotype analysis in the human kidney reveals a strong site-specific expression of CYP3A5 in the proximal tubule in carriers of the CYP3A5*1 allele.

Interindividual variability in the drug-metabolizing activity of the CYP3A5 enzyme is mainly due to a single nucleotide polymorphism in CYP3A5, leading to low expression in homozygous CYP3A5*3/*3 individuals compared with CYP3A5*1 allele carriers. In the human kidney, expression of CYP3A5 has been implicated in blood pressure regulation and calcineurin inhibitor-associated nephrotoxicity. The effect of the CYP3A5*1/*3 polymorphism on the expression level and protein distribution within the human kidney is not well characterized.

Induction of albuminuria and kidney damage in SHR by transfer of chromosome 8 from Munich Wistar Frömter rats.

Inbred Munich Wistar Frömter [MWF/FubRkb (RGD:724569), MWF] rats develop progressive albuminuria with age that is under polygenetic influence. We previously identified a major albuminuria quantitative trait locus (QTL) on rat chromosome (RNO)8 in MWF. To test the independent role of QTL(s) for albuminuria development on RNO8, we generated a consomic SHR-Chr 8(MWF)/Rkb (SHR-8(MWF)) strain by transferring RNO8 from MWF into the albuminuria-resistant background of the spontaneously hypertensive rat [SHR/FubRkb (RGD:631696; SHR)].

Focal adhesion kinase signaling mediates acute renal injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is associated with cell matrix and focal adhesion remodeling. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase that localizes at focal adhesions and regulates their turnover. Here, we investigated the role of FAK in renal I/R injury, using a novel conditional proximal tubule-specific fak-deletion mouse model.