Lupus nephritis: lessons from experimental animal models.

Lupus nephritis is a frequent and severe complication of SLE. In the last decades, animal models for SLE have been studied widely to investigate the immunopathology of this autoimmune disease because abnormalities can be studied and manipulated before clinical signs of the disease become apparent. In this review an overview is given of our current knowledge on the development of lupus nephritis, as derived from animal models, and a hypothetical pathway for the development of lupus nephritis is postulated.

Optimal method for RNA extraction from mouse glomeruli.

Extraction of RNA has been described for rat and rabbit glomeruli but not for mouse glomeruli. Due to their small size, mouse glomeruli cannot be isolated by relatively simple sieving techniques. Based on recently reported methods for the isolation of mouse glomeruli, we developed an RNA isolation technique by performing comparative methodological studies.

Synergistic effects of anti-gp330 and anti-dipeptidyl peptidase type IV antibodies in the induction of glomerular damage.

Passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) in the rat is induced by the administration of heterologous antibodies to renal tubular epithelium (RTE). The nephritogenic capacity of anti-RTE resides primarily in the antibody fraction directed against a 330-kD glycoprotein (gp330). However, monospecific anti-gp330 antibodies are less nephritogenic than anti-RTE antibodies.