title: Connective tissue growth factor and its regulation: a new element in diabetic glomerulosclerosis.
abstract: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a member of the closely related CCN family of cytokines appears to be fibrotic in skin. To determine whether CTGF is implicated in diabetic glomerulosclerosis we studied cultured rat mesangial cells (MC) as well as kidney cortex and microdissected glomeruli from obese, diabetic db/db mice and their normal counterparts. Exposure of MC to rhCTGF significantly increased fibronectin and collagen type I secretion. Further, unstimulated MC expressed low levels of CTGF message and secreted minimal amounts of CTGF protein (36-38 kDa). However, exposure to TGF-beta, increased glucose concentrations, or cyclic mechanical strain, all causal factors in glomerulosclerosis, markedly induced the expression of CTGF transcripts. With all but mechanical strain there was a concomitant stimulation of CTGF protein secretion. TGF-beta also induced abundant quantities of a small molecular weight form of CTGF (18 kDa). The induction of CTGF protein by a high glucose concentration was mediated by TGF-beta, since a TGF-beta neutralizing antibody blocked this stimulation. In vivo studies using quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that while CTGF transcripts were low in the glomeruli of control mice, expression was increased 27-fold after approximately 3.5 months of diabetes. These changes occurred early in diabetic nephropathy when mesangial expansion was mild, and interstitial disease and proteinuria were absent. A substantially reduced elevation of CTGF mRNA (2-fold) observed in whole kidney cortices indicted that the primary alteration of CTGF expression was in the glomerulus. These results suggest that CTGF upregulation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of mesangial matrix accumulation in both diabetic and non-diabetic glomerulosclerosis, acting downstream of TGF-beta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. riserb@usa.net
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Riser
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cortes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism*; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051379:Mice; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000209:etiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C526318:CCN2 protein, mouse; C526316:CCN2 protein, rat; D006133:Growth Substances; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor