Physiologically, renal medullary cells are surrounded by a hyperosmolar interstitium. However, different pathological situations can induce abrupt changes in environmental osmolality, causing cell stress. Therefore, renal cells must adapt to survive in this new condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in the ATP13A2 gene (PARK9, CLN12, OMIM 610513) were initially associated with a form of Parkinson's Disease (PD) known as Kufor Rakeb Syndrome (KRS). However, the genetic spectrum of ATP13A2-associated disorders was expanded in the last years, because it has been found to underlay variants of neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses (NCLs) and hereditary spastic paraplegia. As ATP13A2 seems to be a key component of the endo-lysosome pathway, the fact that these pathologies are commonly characterized by endo-lysosomal dysfunction is not surprising.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNF-κB and TonEBP belong to the Rel-superfamily of transcription factors. Several specific stimuli, including hypertonicity which is a key factor for renal physiology, are able to activate them. It has been reported that, after hypertonic challenge, NF-κB activity can be modulated by TonEBP, considered as the master regulator of transcriptional activity in the presence of changes in environmental tonicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLipoprotein lipase (LPL) and endothelial lipase (EL) are involved in lipoprotein metabolism. In insulin-resistance, their behavior is altered. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and apoproteins (apo)CII and CIII could be partly responsible for these alterations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Renal Physiol
November 2009
Focal adhesions (FAs) are structures of cell attachment to the extracellular matrix. We previously demonstrated that the intrarenal hormone bradykinin (BK) induces the restructuring of FAs in papillary collecting duct cells by dissipation of vinculin, but not talin, from FAs through a mechanism that involves PLCbeta activation, and that it also induces actin cytoskeleton reorganization. In the present study we investigated the mechanism by which BK induces the dissipation of vinculin-stained FAs in collecting duct cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFocal adhesions (FAs) are specialized regions of cell attachment to the extracellular matrix. Previous works have suggested that bradykinin (BK) can modulate cell-matrix interaction. In the present study, we used a physiological cellular model to evaluate the potential role of BK in modulating FAs and stress fibers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosphatidylcholine (PC) is the most abundant phospholipid in mammalian cell membranes. Several lines of evidence support that PC homeostasis is preserved by the equilibrium between PC biosynthetic enzymes and phospholipases catabolic activities. We have previously shown that papillary synthesis of PC depends on prostaglandins (PGs) that modulate biosynthetic enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the present paper, we investigated the effect of angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)) on phospholipid biosynthesis in the rat renal cortex. A significant increase in phosphatidylcholine (PC) labeling was observed when cortical slices, prelabeled with [32P]orthophosphate, were incubated for 30 min in the presence of Ang-(1-7) (1 pM to 100 nM). Neither the phospholipase C inhibitors, neomycin or db-cAMP nor the protein kinase C inhibitors, chelerythrine or H7, modified the stimulatory effect induced by 0.
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