[Tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and expressions of hepatocyte growth factor and Smad7 in renal tissues of rat with experimental diabetes].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship of tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and the expressions of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Smad7, and to elucidate the role of HGF and Smad7 in diabetic nephropathy.


METHODS
Diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats with right nephrectomy and streptozotocin (STZ) administration. The expressions of cytokeratin 18 (CK18), alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), HGF and Smad7 were assayed with immunohistochemistry. The expressions of alpha-SMA, HGF were assayed with flow cytometry. The expression of Smad7 was assessed by Western blot.


RESULTS
Compared with those in kidneys of the control group, diabetic kidneys showed down-regulated expression of CK18 and up-regulated expression of alpha-SMA. The expressions of HGF and Smad7 were increased significantly in the kidneys of diabetic rats at first, then they decreased gradually, but were still higher than those of control.


CONCLUSIONS
The tubular epithelial cells may undergo phenotypic alterations and change to myofibroblasts. The absence of up-regulation of HGF and Smad7 may be related with the transdifferentiation of tubular cells in this animal model.
Liu
Qing-juan
QJ
Department of Pathology, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, Hebei, China.
He
Ning
N
Liu
Shu-xia
SX
Wang
Li-hui
LH
Shi
Yong-hong
YH
Duan
Hui-jun
HJ
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D053538:Keratin-18 / Q000378:metabolism; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D051906:Smad7 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
D000199:Actins; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D053538:Keratin-18; D051906:Smad7 Protein; C497808:Smad7 protein, rat; C498862:Acta2 protein, rat