Unconjugated
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a progressive kidney disease caused by the damage of capillaries in kidney's glomeruli. Mammalian Sterile 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) has been reported to play an important role in many disease, such as diabetes, cardiac disease and ect. However, the potential role of MST1 pathway in DN has not been fully evaluated. In this study, we hypothesized that MST1 could be involved in DN, and MST1 knockdown would attenuate the DN injury in experimental diabetic nephropathy induced by streptozotocin (STZ). The sieving method was used to generate primary cultures of rat podocytes, and cultured according to the previous reports. The clinical data were analyzed for vein specimens from ESRD. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to examine the mRNA levels. Immuno-fluorescence assay was used for primary podocyte in vitro. Lectrophoretic mobility shift assay was used for DNA binding activity of NF-κB. HE staining for histological examination and western blot assay for protein expression were employed. The average GBM thickness (GBMT) was measured By using the electron microscopy. In vitro, MST1 level increased significantly in primary rat podocyte cultured in hyperglycemia condition. In vivo experiment, diabetes induced by a single STZ injection (50 mg/kg) in SD rats. Knockdown of MST1 expression by lentiviral mediated gene transfer partly reduced the proteinuria and the level of FASL, and improved the pathological changes of the diabetic kidney. In conclusion, the MST1 could be involved in DN pathogenesis and may serve as the target for development of new therapies for DN.
The upregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs in virtually all types of kidney disease and is associated with podocyte injury. However, the precise mechanisms involved in the development of kidney disease remain to be elucidated. MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs and they have been shown to be regulators of gene expression, mainly by binding to the untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of the 2 members of the miR-135 family (miR‑135a and miR‑135b) in podocyte injury and to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the damage to podocytes. The results revealed that miR-135a and miR-135b were upregulated in models of podocyte injury and in glomeruli isolated from patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The ectopic expression of miR-135a and miR‑135b led to severe podocyte injury and the disorder of the podocyte cytoskeleton. Our findings demonstrated that miR-135a and miR‑135b activated Wnt/β‑catenin signaling and induced the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Using luciferase reporter assays, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis, glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) was identified as a target gene of miR-135a and miR‑135b. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that members of the miR-135 family (specifically miR-135a and miR‑135b) regulate the expression of GSK3β, thus playing a role in the development of podocyte injury and the disorder of the podocyte cytoskeleton. This is an important finding as it may contribute to the development of novel therapeutics for podocyte injury-associated glomerulopathies.
