Project description:To gain molecular insight into kidney function, we performed a high-resolution quantitative analysis of gene expression in glomeruli and nine different nephron seg-ments dissected from mouse kidney using the long-SAGE method. We also developed dedicated bioinformatics tools and databases to annotate mRNA tags as transcripts. Over 800,000 mRNA SAGE tags were sequenced corresponding to >20,000 different mRNA tags present at least twice in at least one library. Hierarchical clustering analysis of tags demonstrated similarities between the three anatomical sub-segments of the proximal tubule, between the cortical and medullary segments of the thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop, and between the three segments constituting the aldosterone sensitive distal nephron segments, whereas the glomerulus and distal convoluted tubule clusterized independently. We also identified highly specific mRNA markers of each subgroup of nephron segments and of most nephron segments. Tag annotation also identified numbers of putative antisense mRNAs. This database constitutes a reference resource in which the quantitative expression of a given gene can be compared with that of other genes in the same nephron segment, or between different segments of the nephron. To illustrate possible applications of this database, we performed a deeper analysis of the glomerulus transcriptome which unexpectedly revealed expression of several ion and water carriers; within the glomerulus, they were found to be preferentially expressed in the parietal sheet. It also revealed the major role of the zinc finger transcription factor Wt1 in the specificity of gene expression in the glomerulus. Finally, functional annotation of glomerulus-specific transcripts showed the high proliferation activity of glomerular cells. Immunolabelling with anti-PCNA antibodies confirmed a high percentage of proliferating glomerular parietal cells. Approximately 1000 tubules from each different nephron segments were microdissected from 6-8 male CD1 mice. Over 800,000 mRNA SAGE tags were sequenced corresponding to >20,000 different mRNA tags present at least twice in at least one library.

Project description:Through substitution mapping studies, we previously identified that a <330kb region from a rat strain with no renal pathology (the Lewis rat), which when introgressed onto the genetic background of a rat with renal disease (the Dahl Salt-sensitive (S) rat), caused an increase rather than the expected decrease in proteinuria. The purpose of this study was to prioritize a candidate gene and further delineate the mechanism underlying the observed increased in proteinuria. A higher level of proteinuria independent of dietary salt was observed in the congenic rat at a very young age (50-52 day old). The critical congenic segment was further mapped to <42.5kb containing a single candidate gene, rififylin. Rififylin was expressed 1.59 fold higher in the congenic strain compared with S. Overexpression of rififylin is known to delay recycling of endosomes. Renal transcriptome analysis indicated that Atp1a1 one of the most highly differentially expressed genes. Atp1a1 was 5.33 fold higher in the congenic strain compared with S. The protein product of Atp1a1, the alpha subunit of Na+K+ATPase, was also significantly higher in the endosomes of proximal tubules from the congenic strain compared with S. To determine whether the higher amounts of this protein in the endosomes is due to a delay in recycling of endosomes caused by the overexpression of rififylin in the congenic strain, recycling of exogenously labeled-transferrin by single cell cultures of proximal tubules was monitored by confocal microscopy. Recycling of transferrin was significantly delayed in the congenic strain compared with S. These results suggest that impaired endosomal recycling in the proximal tubules from the congenic strain caused by the overexpression of rififylin is a novel molecular mechanism linked to the observed increase in proteinuria of the congenic strain. Three male S control and 3 male congenic S.LEW(10)x12x2x3x5 rats born on the same day were selected, weaned at 30 days of age, and caged with 1 congenic and 1 S rat per cage. They were raised on a low-salt (0.3%) diet (Harlan Teklad diet TD 7034; Harlan–Sprague-Dawley) and sacrificed at 53 days of age and total RNAs were isolated from the kidney. The isolated RNA from each animal was used for the cRNA preparation. cRNA was prepared and fragmented as suggested by Affymetrix technical manual, and simultaneously hybridized (15 µg adjusted cRNA for each chip) to Rat Expression Array 230 2.0 (3' IVT Expression Analysis). Statistical analyses of the microarray data were performed with BH adjustment using R statistical package (version 2.8.1).

Project description:Proteinuria is the most important predictor of outcome in glomerulonephritis and experimental data suggest that the tubular cell response to proteinuria is an important determinant of progressive fibrosis in the kidney. However, it is unclear whether proteinuria is a marker of disease severity or has a direct effect on tubular cells in the kidneys of patients with glomerulonephritis. Accordingly we studied an in vitro model of proteinuria, and identified 231 albumin-regulated genes differentially expressed by primary human kidney tubular epithelial cells exposed to albumin. We translated these findings to human disease by studying mRNA levels of these genes in the tubulo-interstitial compartment of kidney biopsies from patients with IgA nephropathy using microarrays. Biopsies from patients with IgAN (n=25) could be distinguished from those of control subjects (n=6) based solely upon the expression of these 231 albumin-regulated genes. The expression of an 11-transcript subset related to the degree of proteinuria, and this 11-mRNA subset was also sufficient to distinguish biopsies of subjects with IgAN from control biopsies. We tested if these findings could be extrapolated to other proteinuric diseases beyond IgAN and found that the all forms of primary glomerulonephritis (n=33) can be distinguished from controls (n=21) based solely on the expression levels of these 11 genes derived from our in vitro proteinuria model. Pathway analysis suggests common regulatory elements shared by these 11 transcripts. In conclusion, we have identified an albumin-regulated 11-gene signature shared between all forms of primary glomerulonephritis. Our findings support the hypothesis that albuminuria may directly promote injury in the tubulo-interstitial compartment of the kidney in patients with glomerulonephritis. We used microarrays to analyze the transcriptome of microdissected renal biopsies from patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) RNA from tubulointerstitial compartments was extracted and processed for hybridization on Affymetrix HG-U133A microarrays.

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Spatiotemporal landscape of kidney tubular responses to glomerular proteinuria

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