Student and Faculty Publications
Publication Date
3-1-2023
Journal
Molecular Metabolism
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Renal fibrosis is a hallmark for chronic kidney disease (CKD), and often leads to end stage renal disease (ESRD). However, limited interventions are available clinically to ameliorate or reverse renal fibrosis.
METHODS: Herein, we evaluated whether blockade of endotrophin through neutralizing antibodies protects from renal fibrosis in the podocyte insult model (the "POD-ATTAC" mouse). We determined the therapeutic effects of endotrophin targeted antibody through assessing renal function, renal inflammation and fibrosis at histological and transcriptional levels, and podocyte regeneration.
RESULTS: We demonstrated that neutralizing endotrophin antibody treatment significantly ameliorates renal fibrosis at the transcriptional, morphological, and functional levels. In the antibody treatment group, expression of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic genes was significantly reduced, normal renal structures were restored, collagen deposition was decreased, and proteinuria and renal function were improved. We further performed a lineage tracing study confirming that podocytes regenerate as de novo podocytes upon injury and loss, and blockade of endotrophin efficiently enhances podocyte-specific marker expressions.
CONCLUSION: Combined, we provide pre-clinical evidence supporting neutralizing endotrophin as a promising therapy for intervening with renal fibrosis in CKD, and potentially in other chronic fibro-inflammatory diseases.
Keywords
Mice, Animals, Podocytes, Peptide Fragments, Fibrosis, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, Antibodies
Included in
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons, Bioinformatics Commons, Biomedical Informatics Commons, Medical Molecular Biology Commons
Comments
Supplementary Materials
PMID: 36696925