Enhanced Glomerular Profilin Gene and Protein Expression in Experimental Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 222; no. 3; pp. 683 - 687
• Main Authors: Tamura, Masahito, Tanaka, Hiroshi, Hirano, Takeshi, Ueta, Yoichi, Higashi, Ken, Hirano, Hideyasu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 24.05.1996
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Cloning, Molecular; Contractile Proteins; Gene Expression; Glomerular Mesangium - metabolism; Glomerular Mesangium - pathology; Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative - metabolism; Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative - pathology; Humans; Mice; Microfilament Proteins - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Peptides - immunology; Profilins; Rats; Rats, Wistar; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1006/bbrc.1996.0804

Profilin is a cytoplasmic protein that binds to actin monomer and regulates actin polymerization. In a number of experimental and human glomerular diseases, the mesangial cell expresses α-smooth muscle actin and undergoes a phenotypic change to myofibroblast. We used a rat model of mesangial proliferative nephritis induced with antibody to the Thy 1 antigen present on mesangial cells to investigate whether profilin is upregulated. We amplified and sequenced rat profilin cDNA by the reverse-transcribed-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The nucleotide and amino acid sequences were highly conserved across the mammalian profilins. We raised affinity purified antibody to rat profilin in rabbits immunized with a synthetic profilin peptide (EFTMDLRTKS). At 7 days after disease induction, enhanced expression in both profilin mRNAand protein was demonstrated in the isolated glomeruli by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. These results suggest that profilin may be involved in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis by reorganizing actin cytoskeleton.