RANTES deficiency attenuates autoantibody-induced glomerulonephritis.

Experimental autoimmune nephritis in mice and spontaneous lupus nephritis are both associated with elevated expression of several chemokines in the kidneys. Nevertheless, the role that different chemokines play in mediating renal inflammation is far from complete. This study focuses on elucidating the functional role of RANTES, a chemokine that has been noted to be hyper-expressed within the kidneys, both in experimental renal disease as well as in spontaneous lupus nephritis.

Abrogation of TGF-beta1-induced fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation by histone deacetylase inhibition.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating disease with no known effective pharmacological therapy. The fibroblastic foci of IPF contain activated myofibroblasts that are the major synthesizers of type I collagen. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 promotes differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts in vitro and in vivo.

Strain distribution pattern of immune nephritis--a follow-up study.

Previous studies have indicated that the NZW, DBA/1, 129/sv and BUB strains are particularly sensitive to experimental anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM)-induced immune nephritis. The present study extends previous observations by examining eight additional inbred mouse strains for their susceptibility to immune nephritis. Unlike the ALR/Lt, CAST/Ei, DDY/JclSidSeyFrk, FVB/NJ, PERA/Ei, SB/Le and BALB/c strains, the C58 mouse strain was observed to be particularly susceptible to experimental immune nephritis, with CBA mice being a close second.

Shared signaling networks active in B cells isolated from genetically distinct mouse models of lupus.

Though B cells play key roles in lupus pathogenesis, the molecular circuitry and its dysregulation in these cells as disease evolves remain poorly understood. To address this, a comprehensive scan of multiple signaling axes using multiplexed Western blotting was undertaken in several different murine lupus strains. PI3K/AKT/mTOR (mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin), MEK1/Erk1/2, p38, NF-kappaB, multiple Bcl-2 family members, and cell-cycle molecules were observed to be hyperexpressed in lupus B cells in an age-dependent and lupus susceptibility gene-dose-dependent manner.

Enhanced susceptibility to immune nephritis in DBA/1 mice is contingent upon IL-1 expression.

The DBA/1 mouse strain is particularly sensitive to experimental immune-mediated nephritis. Previous studies have indicated that various chemokines/cytokines are elevated in strains of mice susceptible to immune-mediated glomerulonephritis. One of the many elevated cytokines is IL-1.