Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment?
The kidney glomerular podocytes are the cellular target of many chronic nephropathies both determined and acquired genetically. Mutations that affected the expression and/or the function of nephrin, a key component of the slit-diaphragm, are often causes of these pathologies. Recent findings showe...
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Wiley
2013-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Nephrology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/457490 |
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| author | Gian Marco Ghiggeri Maddalena Gigante Armando Di Donato |
| author_facet | Gian Marco Ghiggeri Maddalena Gigante Armando Di Donato |
| author_sort | Gian Marco Ghiggeri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The kidney glomerular podocytes are the cellular target of many chronic nephropathies both determined and acquired genetically. Mutations that affected the expression and/or the function of nephrin, a key component of the slit-diaphragm, are often causes of these pathologies. Recent findings showed that murine podocytes could undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT), suggesting new hypotheses about the pathogenesis of glomerular fibrosis. Here, we show that also human podocytes can undergo EMT, but more importantly nephrin ablation itself can trigger this phenotypic transformation. In fact, a model of human podocyte with engineered nephrin deficiency constitutionally expressed high levels of α-SMA, vimentin, fibronectin, and other hallmarks of EMT. Since it is known that cell contact abrogation is one of the triggers of EMT, we reasoned that nephrin loss could account for such cell junction disruption and cause the EMT. Therefore, we demonstrated that also normal podocytes could spontaneously undergo EMT if grown in Ca2+-free medium, which is known to impair cell contacts. The analysis of the main intracellular signal transduction pathways evidenced some major anomalies consequent with the nephrin abrogation. The most intriguing was the activation of β-catenin pathway, which plays a critical role in podocyte ontogenesis as well as in the nephrin expression and EMT regulation. Also other important signaling proteins, like NF-κB, p53, and retinoblastoma protein (RB), showed important activity modifications. Interestingly, most of the above indicated signaling pathway alterations were again reproducible by cell junction rupture, induced by Ca2+ deprivation. Finally, immunofluorescence analysis on kidney sections of patients with NS of Finnish type confirmed the constitutive expression of α-SMA. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a039362a906f4451a3bce09e76cdfc73 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-214X 2090-2158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Nephrology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a039362a906f4451a3bce09e76cdfc732025-02-03T05:51:31ZengWileyInternational Journal of Nephrology2090-214X2090-21582013-01-01201310.1155/2013/457490457490Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment?Gian Marco Ghiggeri0Maddalena Gigante1Armando Di Donato2Department of Nephrology, Gaslini Children Hospital, Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Interdepartmental Research Center BIOAGROMED, University of Foggia, ItalyDepartment of Nephrology, Gaslini Children Hospital, Genoa, ItalyThe kidney glomerular podocytes are the cellular target of many chronic nephropathies both determined and acquired genetically. Mutations that affected the expression and/or the function of nephrin, a key component of the slit-diaphragm, are often causes of these pathologies. Recent findings showed that murine podocytes could undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT), suggesting new hypotheses about the pathogenesis of glomerular fibrosis. Here, we show that also human podocytes can undergo EMT, but more importantly nephrin ablation itself can trigger this phenotypic transformation. In fact, a model of human podocyte with engineered nephrin deficiency constitutionally expressed high levels of α-SMA, vimentin, fibronectin, and other hallmarks of EMT. Since it is known that cell contact abrogation is one of the triggers of EMT, we reasoned that nephrin loss could account for such cell junction disruption and cause the EMT. Therefore, we demonstrated that also normal podocytes could spontaneously undergo EMT if grown in Ca2+-free medium, which is known to impair cell contacts. The analysis of the main intracellular signal transduction pathways evidenced some major anomalies consequent with the nephrin abrogation. The most intriguing was the activation of β-catenin pathway, which plays a critical role in podocyte ontogenesis as well as in the nephrin expression and EMT regulation. Also other important signaling proteins, like NF-κB, p53, and retinoblastoma protein (RB), showed important activity modifications. Interestingly, most of the above indicated signaling pathway alterations were again reproducible by cell junction rupture, induced by Ca2+ deprivation. Finally, immunofluorescence analysis on kidney sections of patients with NS of Finnish type confirmed the constitutive expression of α-SMA.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/457490 |
| spellingShingle | Gian Marco Ghiggeri Maddalena Gigante Armando Di Donato Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? International Journal of Nephrology |
| title | Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? |
| title_full | Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? |
| title_fullStr | Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? |
| title_short | Constitutional Nephrin Deficiency in Conditionally Immortalized Human Podocytes Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Supported by β-Catenin/NF-kappa B Activation: A Consequence of Cell Junction Impairment? |
| title_sort | constitutional nephrin deficiency in conditionally immortalized human podocytes induced epithelial mesenchymal transition supported by β catenin nf kappa b activation a consequence of cell junction impairment |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/457490 |
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