Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

D J Salant

Publications and source records attributed to D J Salant.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Complement-mediated injury reversibly disrupts glomerular epithelial cell actin microfilaments and focal adhesions.

BACKGROUND: Foot process effacement and condensation of the glomerular epithelial cell (GEC) cytoskeleton are manifestations of passive Heymann nephritis, a model of complement-mediated membranous nephropathy. METHODS: To study the effects of complement on the actin cytoskeleton in this model, we have used an in vitro system in which GECs are sublethally injured using a combination of complement-fixing anti-Fx1A IgG and human serum as a source of complement. We examined the effects of this injury on the organization of the cytoskeleton and focal contacts using immunohistology and immunochemistry. RESULTS: By immunofluorescence, sublethal complement-mediated injury was accompanied by a loss of actin stress fibers and focal contacts but retention of matrix-associated integrins. Full recovery was seen after 18 hours. Western blot analysis showed no change in the cellular content of the focal contact proteins. Inhibition of the calcium-dependent protease calpain did not prevent injury. In addition, cycloheximide during recovery did not inhibit the reassembly of stress fibers or focal contacts. Injury was associated with a reduction in tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin and a currently unidentified 200 kDa protein, but inhibition of tyrosine phosphatase activity with sodium vanadate did not prevent injury. Cellular adenosine triphosphate content was significantly reduced in injured cells. CONCLUSION: These results document reversible, complement-dependent disruption of actin microfilaments and focal contacts leading to the dissociation of the cytoskeleton from matrix-attached integrins. This may explain the altered cell-matrix relationship accompanying podocyte effacement in membranous nephropathy.

Actin Cytoskeleton

Acceleration of lpr lymphoproliferative and autoimmune disease by transgenic protein kinase CK2 alpha.

MRL-lpr/lpr mice have a Fas receptor mutation that leads to abnormalities of apoptosis, lymphoproliferation, and a lupus-like autoimmune disease associated with the production of autoantibodies. Other than Fas pathway defects, little is known about molecular abnormalities that predispose to autoimmunity. Protein kinase CK2 (also termed casein kinase II), a serine-threonine protein kinase whose targets include many critical regulators of cellular growth, is highly expressed in a lymphoproliferative disease of cattle and in many human cancers. Overexpression of the CK2alpha catalytic subunit in lymphocytes of transgenic mice leads to T cell lymphoma. We hypothesized that CK2 dysregulation and Fas mutation might cooperatively augment lymphocyte proliferation and transformation. We find that in MRL-lpr/lpr mice bearing the CK2alpha transgene, the lymphoproliferative process is dramatically exacerbated, as these mice develop massive splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy by 12 wk of age in association with increased autoantibody production and accelerated renal disease. The lymphoid organs are filled with the unusual B220+CD4-CD8- T cells typically seen in MRL-lpr/lpr mice, not the B220-CD4+CD8+ or B220-CD4-CD8+ T cells typically seen in CK2a transgenic lymphomas. The T cells do not fulfill the criteria for transformation, as they are polyclonal and not transplantable or immortal in cell culture. Thus, although the lpr lymphoproliferative and autoimmune syndrome is potentiated by the presence of the CK2a transgene, this combination of apoptotic and proliferative abnormalities appears to be insufficient to transform lymphoid cells.

Animals

Inhibition of complement regulation is key to the pathogenesis of active Heymann nephritis.

Crry (complement receptor 1-related protein/gene y) is a key cellular complement regulator in rodents. It is also present in Fx1A, the renal tubular preparation used to immunize rats to induce active Heymann nephritis (HN), a model of membranous nephropathy. We hypothesized that rats immunized with anti-Fx1A develop autoantibodies (auto-Abs) to Crry as well as to the megalin-containing HN antigenic complex, and that anti-Crry Abs promote the development of injury in HN by neutralizing the complement regulatory activity of Crry. Rats immunized with Fx1A lacking Crry remained free of proteinuria and glomerular deposits of C3 during a 10-wk follow-up despite typical granular immunoglobulin (Ig)G deposits in glomeruli. Anti-Fx1A auto-Abs were present in their sera at levels that were not different from sera pooled from proteinuric rats with HN induced with nephritogenic Fx1A. Passive administration of sheep anti-Crry Abs to rats immunized with Crry-deficient Fx1A led to proteinuria and glomerular C3 deposition, which were not seen in such rats injected with preimmune IgG, nor in rats with collagen-induced arthritis injected with anti-Crry IgG. To directly examine the role of Crry in HN, rats were immunized with Crry-deficient Fx1A reconstituted with rCrry. This led to typical HN, with 8 out of 15 rats developing proteinuria within 14 wk. Moreover, the extent of glomerular C3 deposition correlated with proteinuria, and anti-Crry Abs were present in glomerular eluates. Thus, Crry is a key nephritogenic immunogen in Fx1A. Formation of neutralizing auto-Abs to Crry impairs its function, leading to unrestricted complement activation by Abs reactive with the HN antigenic complex on the epithelial cell surface.

Animals

Blockade of antibody-induced glomerulonephritis with Crry-Ig, a soluble murine complement inhibitor.

A recombinant soluble form of the mouse membrane complement inhibitor Crry (complement receptor-related gene y) fused to IgG1 hinge, CH2, and CH3 domains has been created and designated Crry-Ig. Crry has been used because, similar to human soluble CR1, it demonstrates decay-accelerating activity for both the classical and alternative pathways of complement as well as cofactor activity for factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b and C4b. The mouse IgG1 isotype was incorporated because it is a noncomplement-activating isotype and, when fused to Crry, results in a complement inhibitor that should not be recognized as foreign when used chronically in murine models. Crry-Ig demonstrated complement-inhibitory activity in both the fluid phase and on target surfaces. Following in vivo injection, Crry-Ig manifested a two-phase serum elimination profile, a rapid initial loss most likely reflecting tissue redistribution and a second more prolonged decline with a t1/2 of 40 h. Inhibition of complement activation in mice following injection of Crry-Ig was demonstrated by a marked decrease in the ability of serum from treated mice to be activated by zymosan particles in vitro. Finally, in vivo efficacy of Crry-Ig was demonstrated by its ability to substantially diminish renal injury induced by complement-fixing nephrotoxic Ab. The use of Crry-Ig in vivo in murine models of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease should allow further insight into the potential therapeutic effects and possible untoward complications of continuous blockade of complement using inhibitors that act on activation products of C4 and C3.

Animals

Acute nephrotoxic serum nephritis in complement knockout mice: relative roles of the classical and alternate pathways in neutrophil recruitment and proteinuria.

BACKGROUND: The importance of complement in the pathophysiology of renal disease is still being appreciated. To further address the role of this mediator system, we evaluated the influence of absolute deficiency of C3 and C4 on acute nephrotoxic serum nephritis (NSN). METHODS: Selective 'knockout' of C3 and C4 was routinely confirmed in null mice by ELISA. NSN was induced by intravenous injection of a sheep anti-rat nephrotoxic serum that cross-reacts with murine glomerular antigens. Deposition of heterologous immunoglobulin in wild-type glomeruli was associated with rapid complement deposition and neutrophil infiltration, and followed by the development of proteinuria. RESULTS: Neutrophil infiltration was markedly inhibited in C3-deficient mice indicating a role for complement in PMN recruitment. In contrast, C3 deficiency afforded only partial protection against proteinuria. NSN was studied further in C4 null mice to probe the relative roles of the classical and alternate pathway in disease pathophysiology. C3 and C4 deficiency were associated with equivalent inhibition of PMN recruitment and proteinuria. CONCLUSIONS: In aggregate, the data support a major role for complement in PMN recruitment in this model and point to complement-independent mechanisms of proteinuria in antibody-mediated glomerulonephritis. These 'knockout' mice should prove valuable for defining the complement-activated mediator systems that regulate leukocyte recruitment and tissue injury in renal diseases.

Acute Disease

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 deficiency prolongs survival and protects against the development of pulmonary inflammation during murine lupus.

One of the characteristic features of the lupus syndrome in humans and mice is the organ-specific accumulation of leukocytes within a variety of different tissues; however, the etiology of this phenomenon remains unclear. The work presented here determined the role of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 in the development of pulmonary leukocyte accumulation by generating MRL/MpJ-Faslpr mice that are genetically deficient in this critical adhesion molecule. Interestingly, these MRL/MpJ-Faslpr ICAM-1 knockout mice exhibit prolonged survival times compared to littermates expressing ICAM-1. We have determined that lack of ICAM-1 completely abrogates the development of pulmonary inflammation but does not prevent the development of autoantibodies, lymphadenopathy, and glomerulonephritis. Furthermore, the lack of pulmonary inflammation was found to be due to decreased migration of leukocytes to the lung rather than decreased in situ proliferation of cells.

Animals

RANTES and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) play an important role in the inflammatory phase of crescentic nephritis, but only MCP-1 is involved in crescent formation and interstitial fibrosis.

The involvement of chemokines in inflammation is well established, but their functional role in disease progression, and particularly in the development of fibrosis, is not yet understood. To investigate the functional role that the chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and RANTES play in inflammation and the progression to fibrosis during crescentic nephritis we have developed and characterized a murine model for this syndrome. Significant increases in T-lymphocytes and macrophages were observed within glomeruli and interstitium, paralleled by an induction of mRNA expression of MCP-1 and RANTES, early after disease initiation. Blocking the function of MCP-1 or RANTES resulted in significant decreases in proteinuria as well as in numbers of infiltrating leukocytes, indicating that both MCP-1 and RANTES (regulated upon activation in normal T cells expressed and secreted) play an important role in the inflammatory phase of crescentic nephritis. In addition, neutralization of MCP-1 resulted in a dramatic decrease in both glomerular crescent formation and deposition of type I collagen. These results highlight a novel role for MCP-1 in crescent formation and development of interstitial fibrosis, and indicate that in addition to recruiting inflammatory cells this chemokine is critically involved in irreversible tissue damage.

Animals

Role of MCP-1 and RANTES in inflammation and progression to fibrosis during murine crescentic nephritis.

The involvement of chemokines in inflammation is well established but their functional role in disease progression, and particularly in the development of fibrosis, is not yet understood. We have investigated the functional role that the chemokines monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and RANTES play in inflammation and the progression to fibrosis during crescentic nephritis. During this disease inflammatory infiltrates are observed within glomeruli and interstitium in conjunction with increased expression of MCP-1 and RANTES and a decrease in renal function. Disease progression is marked by formation of glomerular crescents and the deposition of type I collagen. Blocking the function of MCP-1 or RANTES resulted in significant decreases in proteinuria as well as numbers of infiltrating leukocytes, indicating that both MCP-1 and RANTES play an important role in the inflammatory phase of crescentic nephritis. In particular, neutralization of MCP-1, but not RANTES, resulted in a dramatic decrease in glomerular crescent formation and deposition of type I collagen. These results highlight a novel role for MCP-1 in crescent formation and development of interstitial fibrosis and indicate that in addition to recruiting inflammatory cells this chemokine is critically involved in irreversible tissue damage.

Animals

Glomerular epithelial cell products stimulate mesangial cell proliferation in culture.

Glomerular epithelial cells (GEC) and mesangial cells (MC) are both involved in glomerular diseases. To elucidate potential interactions between these glomerular cell types, we examined whether products of GEC affect the proliferative activity of MC. We found that cultured rat GEC secrete soluble factors into the supernate (GEC-CM) that induce proliferation of quiescent rat MC. The mitogenic activity was trypsin sensitive and partially heat-labile. Biochemical analysis of GEC-CM by gel filtration HPLC, reverse phase HPLC, and isoelectric focusing revealed at least three mitogenic fractions as well as inhibitory activity present in GEC-CM. Competitive binding assays with 125I-labeled PDGF did not show significant amounts of PDGF in GEC-CM. The biochemical features of the GEC-derived MC growth factors are distinct from IL-6, PDGF, bFGF, and endothelin, previously described GEC-derived MC growth factors. Additionally, significant contributions of known growth factors such as IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, TNF alpha, TGF beta, and GM-CSF are unlikely. The results indicate that GEC produce several biochemically-distinct MC growth regulators. While these epithelial cell-derived mitogens for MC require further characterization, they may play an important role in the regulation of MC replication, such as during embryogenesis and glomerular disease.

Animals

Slit diaphragm-reactive nephritogenic MAb 5-1-6 alters expression of ZO-1 in rat podocytes.

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 5-1-6 identifies a 51-kDa protein (p51) on rat podocyte foot processes and causes severe complement- and leukocyte-independent proteinuria when injected into rats. In the studies reported here, we used various immunohistological techniques to define the precise location of p51 and its relationship to ZO-1, a known component of the podocyte slit diaphragm in adult rat glomeruli. Our results demonstrate that p51 and ZO-1 lie close to each other on opposite sides of the podocyte plasma membrane at the point of insertion of the slit diaphragm: ZO-1 on the cytoplasmic face and p51 on the slit diaphragm and adjoining outer leaflet of the plasma membrane bordering the filtration slits. In addition to their geographic proximity, there appears to be a relationship between p51 and ZO-1. After MAb 5-1-6 injection, there was a progressive decline in stainable ZO-1 in the podocytes of heavily proteinuric rats. In addition, Western blot analysis of glomerular lysates showed that the decline in staining was due to a loss of immunoreactive ZO-1 rather than redistribution or diffusion of the protein. Simultaneously, the distribution of glomerular-bound MAb 5-1-6 became more clumped, apparently because of partial endocytosis into a lysosomal compartment, while the slit diaphragms remained morphologically intact. These findings suggest that MAb 5-1-6 alters the molecular composition of the slit diaphragm and thereby affects the glomerular permeability barrier.

Animals

Acute renal failure due to lymphomatous infiltration of the kidneys.

Acute renal failure (ARF) is an unusual manifestation of lymphomatous infiltration of the kidneys. In this article, a patient whose initial presentation of lymphoma was the sudden onset of painless hematuria and ARF is described. The absence of other causes of ARF, together with massively enlarged unobstructed kidneys on renal ultrasonography, strongly suggested an infiltrative process. Renal biopsy established the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Pulse steroid therapy was associated with rapid improvement of renal function and kidney size, but a moderate degree of tumor lysis syndrome ensued. Further recovery followed with chemotherapy. Whereas widespread infiltration of the kidneys is present in almost one third of patients with lymphoma at autopsy, this rarely causes clinical symptoms. Nevertheless, because it often responds to therapy, lymphomatous infiltration should be suspected in any patient presenting with unexplained ARF and enlarged kidneys, especially in the setting of widespread lymphoma.

Acute Kidney Injury

Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on complement-mediated glomerular epithelial cell injury.

To define the mechanisms by which fish oil protects rats with passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) from proteinuria in vivo, we investigated whether omega-3 fatty acid substitution of glomerular epithelial cells (GEC) in culture alters their susceptibility or response to complement-mediated sublethal injury. The results show that GECs can be cultured under conditions that effectively incorporate omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids into membrane phospholipids without causing toxicity. Under these conditions, sublethal injury with anti-Fx1A and C5b-9 stimulated a 6.6-fold increase in TxA2 production by GECs substituted with arachidonic acid (AA, omega-6) but no increase was detected in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, omega-3) substituted cells. Sublethal cell membrane injury was of equal severity in both groups as measured by the release of preloaded biscarboxyethyl carboxyfluorescein and by the transepithelial flux of albumin. In addition, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid substituted cells showed similar increases in diacylglycerol mass in response to sublethal injury by C5b-9, suggesting that omega-3 incorporation did not limit phospholipid (PL) hydrolysis by PLC. From this we can conclude that the protective effect of fish oil in PHN does not appear to result from the preservation of GEC integrity but is likely related to changes in the production of lipid mediators.

Animals

The effect of VH residues 6 and 23 on IgG3 cryoprecipitation and glomerular deposition.

MRL/lpr mice spontaneously develop a lupus-like autoimmune syndrome characterized by immunopathologic manifestations such as necrotizing vasculitis of the skin and glomerulonephritis. A feature of this autoimmune syndrome is the production of extremely large amounts of monoclonal IgG3 cryoglobulins. The structural basis of IgG3 cryoprecipitation is not well understood. Although the IgG3 isotype is necessary for cryoprecipitation, not all IgG3 antibodies cryoprecipitate. It has been postulated that electrostatic charge may be influential in cryoprecipitation. To investigate this problem, the VH and VL sequences of a panel of IgG3 cryoglobulins and non-cryoglobulins were compared, with particular attention to charged amino acid differences. At VH residues 6 and 23 the cryoglobulins were more positively charged than their non-cryoglobulin counterparts. To analyze further the effect of charge on cryoprecipitation, the sequence of an IgG3 monoclonal cryoprecipitating rheumatoid factor was modified by site-directed mutagenesis. The more positive residues at VH 6 and 23 present in some of the cryoglobulin antibodies were mutated to the more negative residues found in the non-cryoglobulins. The results show that VH residue 6 affects cryoprecipitation while residue 23 does not. When injected into normal BALB/c mice, the unmutated antibody produced glomerular immune deposits and focal glomerulonephritis, whereas loss of cryoprecipitability by mutating residue 6 completely abrogated glomerular immune deposition and glomerular injury. In contrast, the mutation at residue 23 which retains cryoprecipitability reduced glomerular immune deposition and prevented glomerular injury.

Amino Acid Sequence

Fish oil ameliorates renal injury and hyperlipidemia in the Milan normotensive rat model of focal glomerulosclerosis.

Rats of the Milan normotensive rat strain (MNS) spontaneously develop severe proteinuria and excessive glomerular thromboxane (Tx)A2 production at a young age. These abnormalities are accompanied by podocyte alterations, progressive focal glomerulosclerosis (FGS), and interstitial fibrosis, resembling human FGS. Since it has been shown that pharmacologic Tx-synthase inhibition protects MNS rats from these changes, it was hypothesized that a fish oil (FO) enriched diet, by enhancing TxA3 production instead of TxA2, might afford similar protection, compared with diets enriched in safflower oil (SO) or lard (LD). Rats were pair-fed 11% fat diets from age of 1 to 11 months. Glomerular TxA2 at 11 months was significantly lower in PO-fed rats than in SO- and LD-fed rats (11 +/- 3.0, 69 +/- 3.0, 59 +/- 19.0 nanograms per min/mg, respectively; P < 0.001). At 3 months, urinary albumin excretion was similar among the groups. Over the course of the study, rats fed FO developed significantly less albuminuria than the SO and LD groups (P < 0.001 by analysis of variance for repeated measures), such that the values at 11 months were 25 +/- 5.8, 49 +/- 8.7, and 68 +/- 13.0 mg/24h, respectively. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were also significantly lower in FO-fed rats than in SO- and LD-fed rats. The extent of FGS was similar in the three groups, but FO-fed rats had less interstitial injury than the other groups. It was observed that a fish-oil diet substantially alleviated albuminuria, normalized nephrotic hyperlipidemia, and reduced interstitial injury, but did not prevent the development of FGS in the MNS model.

Albuminuria

Developmental expression of the nephritogenic antigen of monoclonal antibody 5-1-6.

The biogenesis of p51, the target of nephritogenic monoclonal antibody 5-1-6, was studied in the developing glomerulus by immunolocalization and metabolic labeling. The localization of p51 was compared with that of ZO-1, a component of the cytoplasmic face of the epithelial slit diaphragm, and with that of podocalyxin, and apical marker of the podocyte. p51 first became faintly, but clearly, detectable on the basal and lateral sides of the developing podocytes at the S-shaped body stage. Staining intensity increased with further maturation and was restricted to the visceral epithelial cells. On immunoelectron microscopy, the antigen was seen along the basal and lateral surfaces below occluding junction at the early capillary loop stage and later, with the interdigitation of foot processes, became concentrated in the slit pores. At no stage was p51 seen on the apical surface. p51 and ZO-1 were closely localized in the mature glomerulus but arrived at their final positions from opposite directions. p51 was on basal and podocalyxin was on apical sides of the glomerular epithelium from the S-shaped body stage onwards. Metabolic labeling studies showed that p51 is actively synthesized during initial glomerular development and that the rate of synthesis declines substantially with maturation. We conclude that p51 is primarily synthesized during the initial glomerular development, becomes concentrated in the slit pores of mature podocytes, and serves as a basal differentiation marker for podocytes.

Aging