Biotechnological challenges of bioartificial kidney engineering

With the world-wide increase of patients with renal failure, the development of functional renal replacement therapies have gained significant interest and novel technologies are rapidly evolving. Currently used renal replacement therapies insufficiently remove accumulating waste products, resulting in the uremic syndrome. A more preferred treatment option is kidney transplantation, but the shortage of donor organs and the increasing number of patients waiting for a transplant warrant the development of novel technologies. The bioartificial kidney (BAK) is such promising biotechnological approach to replace essential renal functions together with the active secretion of waste products. The development of the BAK requires a multidisciplinary approach and evolves at the intersection of regenerative medicine and renal replacement therapy. Here we provide a concise review embracing a compact historical overview of bioartificial kidney development and highlighting the current state-of-the-art, including implementation of living-membranes and the relevance of extracellular matrices. We focus further on the choice of relevant renal epithelial cell lines versus the use of stem cells and co-cultures that need to be implemented in a suitable device. Moreover, the future of the BAK in regenerative nephrology is discussed.     

茶树水通道蛋白基因的克隆与表达分析

从茶树中克隆了6个水通道蛋白(aquaporin,AQP)基因的cDNA全长序列,根据序列相似性和系统进化分析结果,分别命名为CsNIP1;1、CsNIP5;1、CsPIP2;1、CsPIP2;2、CsTIP1;1和CsTIP2;2。氨基酸序列特征分析表明,6个基因的编码氨基酸序列长度在250~301个氨基酸残基,分子量在25.186~30.728kD之间;均为疏水性蛋白,并都含有6个跨膜螺旋;6个基因均含有MIP蛋白家族的特征序列HF/I/VNPA/SI/L/VTI/FA/G和NPA(Asn-Pro-Ala)基序,以及类似沙漏状的跨膜三级结构。荧光定量PCR分析显示:这6个基因在根、茎、叶和花中均表达,且在根中的表达水平最高,表明它们与茶树根系的物质转运密切相关;CsAQPs基因的表达受ABA、高盐、干旱和低温胁迫的调控,表明它们可能参与茶树抗逆响应。     

Inhibiting the urokinase‐type plasminogen activator receptor system recovers STZ‐induced diabetic nephropathy

The urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (uPA) receptor (uPAR) participates to the mechanisms causing renal damage in response to hyperglycaemia. The main function of uPAR in podocytes (as well as soluble uPAR ‐(s)uPAR‐ from circulation) is to regulate podocyte function through αvβ3 integrin/Rac‐1. We addressed the question of whether blocking the uPAR pathway with the small peptide UPARANT, which inhibits uPAR binding to the formyl peptide receptors (FPRs) can improve kidney lesions in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetes. The concentration of systemically administered UPARANT was measured in the plasma, in kidney and liver extracts and UPARANT effects on dysregulated uPAR pathway, αvβ3 integrin/Rac‐1 activity, renal fibrosis and kidney morphology were determined. UPARANT was found to revert STZ‐induced up‐regulation of uPA levels and activity, while uPAR on podocytes and (s)uPAR were unaffected. In glomeruli, UPARANT inhibited FPR2 expression suggesting that the drug may act downstream uPAR, and recovered the increased activity of the αvβ3 integrin/Rac‐1 pathway indicating a major role of uPAR in regulating podocyte function. At the functional level, UPARANT was shown to ameliorate: (a) the standard renal parameters, (b) the vascular permeability, (c) the renal inflammation, (d) the renal fibrosis including dysregulated plasminogen‐plasmin system, extracellular matrix accumulation and glomerular fibrotic areas and (e) morphological alterations of the glomerulus including diseased filtration barrier. These results provide the first demonstration that blocking the uPAR pathway can improve diabetic kidney lesion in the STZ model, thus suggesting the uPA/uPAR system as a promising target for the development of novel uPAR‐targeting approaches.     

沙蒿AQP基因结构预测及干旱胁迫下的时空表达模式研究

为探究水通道蛋白(AQP)在沙蒿响应干旱胁迫中的作用机制,该研究以青海省柴达木盆地沙蒿为试验材料,采用RACE技术对其AQP基因进行扩增,获得沙蒿AQP全长克隆并对AQP蛋白进行结构预测和分析;采用qRT-PCR对沙蒿AQP基因在不同程度干旱胁迫以及不同组织部位的表达模式进行分析。结果表明:(1)成功克隆获得沙蒿AQP基因长746 bp的片段1和长534 bp的片段2,经拼接后得到全长cDNA序列,沙蒿AQP基因总长为864 bp。(2)亚细胞定位表明沙蒿AQP基因定位于细胞膜上;同源比对显示沙蒿与向日葵、莴苣、橡胶树等植物的AQP基因具有较高的相似性;结构预测表明AQP蛋白含6个跨膜螺旋结构且亲水性较弱,α螺旋和无规则卷曲为AQP蛋白二级结构的主要构成元件。(3)qRT-PCR分析表明,沙蒿AQP基因随着干旱胁迫的加重呈现有规律的变化,根、茎、叶中表达均上调,且叶中AQP基因表达量上调幅度最大。研究表明沙蒿AQP基因结构特征及其表达模式都是沙蒿对干旱胁迫的一种适应。     

A novel in vitro co-culture model to examine contact formation between astrocytic processes and cerebral vessels

Here, we developed a novel in vitro co-culture model, in which process-bearing astrocytes and isolated cerebral microvessels from mice were co-cultured. Astrocytes formed contacts with microvessels from both adult and neonatal mice. However, concentrated localization of the immunofluorescence signal for aquaporin-4 (AQP4) at contact sites between perivascular endfoot processes and blood vessels was only detected with neonatal mouse microvessels. Contact between astrocytic processes and microvessels was retained, whereas concentrated localization of AQP4 signal at contact sites was lost, by knockdown of dystroglycan or α-syntrophin, reflecting polarized localization of AQP4 at perivascular regions in the brain. Further, using our in vitro co-culture model, we found that astrocytes predominantly extend processes to pericytes located at the abluminal surface of microvessels, providing additional evidence that this model is representative of the in vivo situation. Altogether, we have developed a novel in vitro co-culture model that can reproduce aspects of the in vivo situation and is useful for assessing contact formation between astrocytes and blood vessels.     

Influence of the Cytoplasmic Domains of Aquaporin-4 on Water Conduction and Array Formation

Phosphorylation of Ser180 in cytoplasmic loop D has been shown to reduce the water permeability of aquaporin (AQP) 4, the predominant water channel in the brain. However, when the structure of the S180D mutant (AQP4M23S180D), which was generated to mimic phosphorylated Ser180, was determined to 2.8 Å resolution using electron diffraction patterns, it showed no significant differences from the structure of the wild-type channel. High-resolution density maps usually do not resolve protein regions that are only partially ordered, but these can sometimes be seen in lower-resolution density maps calculated from electron micrographs. We therefore used images of two-dimensional crystals and determined the structure of AQP4M23S180D at 10 Å resolution. The features of the 10-Å density map are consistent with those of the previously determined atomic model; in particular, there were no indications of any obstruction near the cytoplasmic pore entrance. In addition, water conductance measurements, both in vitro and in vivo, show the same water permeability for wild-type and mutant AQP4M23, suggesting that the S180D mutation neither reduces water conduction through a conformational change nor reduces water conduction by interacting with a protein that would obstruct the cytoplasmic channel entrance. Finally, the 10-Å map shows a cytoplasmic density in between four adjacent tetramers that most likely represents the association of four N termini. This finding supports the critical role of the N terminus of AQP4 in the stabilization of orthogonal arrays, as well as their interference through lipid modification of cysteine residues in the longer N-terminal isoform.     

Potential role of the methylation of VEGF gene promoter in response to hypoxia in oxygen‐induced retinopathy: beneficial effect of the absence of AQP4

Hypoxia‐dependent accumulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a major role in retinal diseases characterized by neovessel formation. In this study, we investigated whether the glial water channel Aquaporin‐4 (AQP4) is involved in the hypoxia‐dependent VEGF upregulation in the retina of a mouse model of oxygen‐induced retinopathy (OIR). The expression levels of VEGF, the hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), the production of nitric oxide (NO), the methylation status of the HIF‐1 binding site (HBS) in the VEGF gene promoter, the binding of HIF‐1α to the HBS, the retinal vascularization and function have been determined in the retina of wild‐type (WT) and AQP4 knock out (KO) mice under hypoxic (OIR) or normoxic conditions. In response to 5 days of hypoxia, WT mice were characterized by (i) AQP4 upregulation, (ii) increased levels of VEGF, HIF‐1α, iNOS and NO, (iii) pathological angiogenesis as determined by engorged retinal tufts and (iv) dysfunctional electroretinogram (ERG). AQP4 deletion prevents VEGF, iNOS and NO upregulation in response to hypoxia thus leading to reduced retinal damage although in the presence of high levels of HIF‐1α. In AQP4 KO mice, HBS demethylation in response to the beginning of hypoxia is lower than in WT mice reducing the binding of HIF‐1α to the VEGF gene promoter. We conclude that in the absence of AQP4, an impaired HBS demethylation prevents HIF‐1 binding to the VEGF gene promoter and the relative VEGF transactivation, reducing the VEGF‐induced retinal damage in response to hypoxia.