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A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2008

Published online before print February 2, 2008
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Copyright © 2008 American Society for Investigative Pathology
American Journal of Pathology, doi:10.2353/ajpath.2008.070196

Accepted for publication November 27, 2007.

Article

Amelioration of Crescentic Glomerulonephritis by RhoA Kinase Inhibitor, Fasudil, through Podocyte Protection and Prevention of Leukocyte Migration

Teruo Hidaka, Yusuke Suzuki, Michifumi Yamashita, Terumi Shibata, Yuichi Tanaka, Satoshi Horikoshi, and Yasuhiko Tomino@

From the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

@ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yasu{at}med.juntendo.ac.jp.


  Abstract

The small GTPase RhoA is activated by the angiotensin II (AngII) type 1 receptor (AT1R), which is part of the local renin-angiotensin system that is involved in podocyte injury preceding glomerular crescent formation. We demonstrated previously that inhibition of AT1R protects against crescentic glomerular injury in Fc receptor-deficient mice ({gamma}-/-) with anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody-induced glomerulonephritis (anti-GBM GN). Here, we hypothesized that the RhoA kinase inhibitor, fasudil, attenuates AT1R-dependent crescentic GN. We examined anti-GBM GN in {gamma}-/- mice with or without fasudil treatment, and further investigated the underlying mechanisms in cultured differentiated podocytes and leukocytes. Fasudil markedly attenuated crescentic GN with a significant decrease in proteinuria and hematuria, infiltration of T cells and monocytes/macrophages as well as their local proliferation, and preservation of podocyte-specific proteins, including WT-1 and nephrin, in glomeruli. In vitro studies showed that AngII induced the down-regulation of both nephrin and WT-1 expression in podocytes, which was reversed by fasudil in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, fasudil blocked the AngII-induced migration of both macrophages and T cells. Furthermore, we also examined lipopolysaccharide-induced nephrotic syndrome in severe combined immunodeficiency disease mice and found that fasudil failed to block the development of proteinuria because of a B7-1-dependent podocyte injury. In conclusion, fasudil treatment prevents crescent formation and disease progression in anti-GBM GN by preventing AngII-induced podocyte injury and leukocyte migration.






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Copyright © 2008 by the American Society for Investigative Pathology.