The Role of Connexin 43 in Renal Disease: Insights from In Vivo Models of Experimental Nephropathy

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 21; p. 13090
• Main Authors: Roger, Elena, Boutin, Louis, Chadjichristos, Christos E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Animal models; Atherosclerosis; Communication; Connexin 43; Diabetes; Diabetic retinopathy; experimental nephropathy; Human health and pathology; Inflammation; kidney disease; Kidney diseases; Life Sciences; Localization; Metabolites; Molecular weight; Nephropathy; Pharmacology; Physiology; Proteins; Public health; Renal function; Review; Structure-function relationships; Transplantation; kidney disease; animal models; connexin 43; experimental nephropathy
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232113090

Renal disease is a major public health challenge since its prevalence has continuously increased over the last decades. At the end stage, extrarenal replacement therapy and transplantation remain the only treatments currently available. To understand how the disease progresses, further knowledge of its pathophysiology is needed. For this purpose, experimental models, using mainly rodents, have been developed to unravel the mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of renal disease, as well as to identify potential targets for therapy. The gap junction protein connexin 43 has recently been identified as a novel player in the development of kidney disease. Its expression has been found to be altered in many types of human renal pathologies, as well as in different animal models, contributing to the activation of inflammatory and fibrotic processes that lead to renal damage. Furthermore, Cx43 genetic, pharmacogenetic, or pharmacological inhibition preserved renal function and structure. This review summarizes the existing advances on the role of this protein in renal diseases, based mainly on different in vivo animal models of acute and chronic renal diseases.