Kidney fibrosis is a common process of various kidney diseases leading to end-stage renal failure irrespective of etiology. Myofibroblasts are crucial mediators in kidney fibrosis through production of extracellular matrix (ECM), but their origin has not been clearly identified. Many study proposed that epithelial and endothelial cells become myofibroblasts by epithelial dedifferentiation and endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT). TGF-β1/Smad signaling plays a crucial role in partly epithelial-mensencymal transition (EMT) and EndoMT. Thus, we designed the TGF-β1/ Smad oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN), a synthetic short DNA containing complementary sequence for Smad transcription factor and TGF-β1 mRNA. Therefore, this study investigated the anti-fibrotic effect of synthetic TGF-β1/Smad ODN on UUO-induced kidney fibrosis in vivo model and TGF-β1-induced in vitro model.To examine the effect of TGF-β1/Smad ODN, we performed various experiments to evaluate kidney fibrosis. The results showed that UUO induced inflammation, ECM accumulation, epithelial dedifferentiation and EndoMT processes, and tubular atrophy. However, synthetic TGF-β1/Smad ODN significantly suppressed UUOinduced fibrosis. Furthermore, synthetic ODN attenuated TGF-β1-induced epithelial dedifferentiation and EndoMT program via blocking TGF-β1/Smad signaling. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that administration of synthetic TGF-β1/Smad ODN attenuates kidney fibrosis, epithelial dedifferentiation, and EndoMT processes.The findings propose the possibility of synthetic ODN as a new effective therapeutic tool for kidney fibrosis.
K E Y W O R D SEndoMT, epithelial dedifferentiation, kidney fibrosis, TGF-β1/Smad oligodeoxynucleotide, UUO 334 | GWON et al.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS
| Synthesis of oligodeoxynucleotidesTarget site of TGF-β1 was selected using S-Fold program. Synthetic ODNs were synthesized on Macrogen (Seoul, Korea). TGF-β1/Smad ODN and scrambled (Scr) ODN 340 | GWON et al.
F I G U R E 3 TGF-β1/Smad ODN attenuated kidney fibrosis and ECM accumulation in UUO-injured mice. A, Pathological stain withhematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and B, Masson's trichrome performed using kidney sections. Trichrome stain showed that TGF-β1/Smad ODN attenuated interstitial fibrosis. C, The quantitative analysis of blue-stained collagen in trichrome staining (n = 3). D, Collagen Ⅰ was detected by RT-PCR. This result demonstrated the effect of synthetic ODN on ECM accumulation. The graphs summarize the analysis of the Collagen Ⅰ mRNA expressions (n = 4). E, Immunohistochemistry stain showed that the expression of fibronectin was inhibited by TGF-β1/Smad ODN administration in UUO-injured mice. F, The quantitative graph of fibronectin expression. G, Representative Western blot data revealed that TGF-β1/Smad ODN diminished expression of fibronectin. β-actin was used to confirm equal volume protein sample loading (n = 3). Scale bar = 50 μm; +: treated; −: un-treated; *P < .05 compared to the normal control group; †P < .05 compared to the UUO group