title: Alteration of podocyte phenotype in the urine of women with preeclampsia.
abstract: Podocyte injury has been suggested to induce phenotypic alteration of glomerular podocytes and accelerate the detachment of podocytes from the glomeruli resulting in podocyturia. However, it is not clear whether podocyte phenotypic alteration occurs in the urine of women with preeclampsia (PE). Seventy-seven and 116 pelleted urine samples from 38 and 18 women at various stages of normal and PE pregnancies, respectively underwent quantitative analysis of podocyte-specific or associated protein mRNA expression, including podocin, nephrin, and synaptopodin using RT-PCR. Significant proteinuria in pregnancy (SPIP) is defined as protein:creatinine ratio (P/Cr, mg/mg) ≥ 0.27 in the urine supernatant. All three urine-pellet mRNAs expression levels were significantly positively correlated with P/Cr levels, suggesting that podocyturia increased with proteinuria. The podocin:nephrin mRNA ratio (PNR) and synaptopodin:nephrin mRNA ratio (SNR) increased significantly with increasing P/Cr, while the podocin:synaptopodin mRNA ratio (PSR) did not change significantly according to P/Cr, resulting in significantly higher PNR and SNR, but not PSR levels, in urine from PE women with than without SPIP. The PNR, SNR, and PSR in urine from PE women before onset of SPIP were comparable to those from controls. Thus, nephrin mRNA expression was reduced in the podocytes recovered from PE women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Tianyue
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Itsuko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Akaishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisanori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Minakami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D050199:Podocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000652:urine*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; C407223:NPHS2 protein; C503967:SYNPO protein, human; C113267:nephrin