title: Ras antagonist farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) reduces glomerular cellular proliferation and macrophage number in rat thy-1 nephritis.
abstract: Targeting the Ras family of monomeric GTPases has been suggested as a therapeutic strategy in proliferative renal diseases. This article reports the effects of Ras antagonist farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) in rat thy-1 nephritis, a model in which cytokine-driven glomerular cell proliferation and invasion is likely to involve Ras signaling pathways. FTS in vitro specifically inhibits the binding of Ras to discrete membrane sites, thereby downregulating several Ras-dependent signaling functions and accelerating Ras degradation. Forty-four Lewis rats were given nephritis by day zero injection of a monoclonal thy-1 antibody ER4 (2.5mg/kg body wt). Twenty-two rats were then treated with daily intraperitoneal injection of FTS (5 mg/kg body wt) until sacrifice, and the remaining control rats were given vehicle alone (C). Six rats from each group were sacrificed at day 1 to establish equal injury; other sacrifice points were day 7 and day 10. Bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected 1 h before sacrifice, after which sections were used for immunohistochemistry, which included detection of Ras expression, BrdU+ cells and macrophages/monocytes (ED1+). Thy-1 nephritis was associated with an increase in glomerular expression of Ki-Ras and N-Ras isoforms, which was almost fully prevented by FTS. FTS treatment was associated with: (a) a 54% reduction in the mean number of BrdU+ cells per glomerulus (P < 0.01), (b) a 50% reduction in macrophages/monocytes (ED1+) per glomerulus (P < 0.01), and (c) a reduction in 24-h proteinuria at day 10 (P < 0.05). These results show that Ras inhibition can reduce both glomerular cell proliferation and glomerular macrophage cell number in the thy-1 model and justify further study of FTS as a potential therapeutic in proliferative nephritis.
authors.affiliation: Renal Medicine, GKT School of Medicine, King's College, London, England.
authors.forename: Helen C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Hemant M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kocher
authors.forename: Arif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khwaja
authors.forename: Yoel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kloog
authors.forename: H Terence
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Bruce M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hendry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005204:Farnesol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D009393:Nephritis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012459:Salicylates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007518:Isoantibodies; D012459:Salicylates; C035678:anti-Thy antibody; C093323:farnesylthiosalicylic acid; D005204:Farnesol; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D018631:ras Proteins