Gene expression in normal and regenerating mouse kidney

Molecular mechanisms of tubulointerstitial hypertrophy and hyperplasia

Adult kidneys, which are principally composed of tubulointerstitium, do not normally regenerate or expand their working pool of functional cells at a very high rate. Loss of kidney tissue, however, can lead to some compensatory renal enlargement. The catalytic forces initiating such exchanges have not been fully articulated by current experimental endeavors. Increasing evidence, nevertheless, does suggest that factors other than simple changes in renal hemodynamics may be involved in this process. Different cellular elements in the tubulointerstitial microenvironment probably modulate changes in tubular enlargement or size through a complex cytokine network. Autocrine and paracrine stimulation of enlargement by different local growth factors also seem to play a pivotal role. After binding to cellular receptors, these factors activate signal transduction pathways resulting in expression of immediate early genes, which by themselves can synchronize the expression of subsequent genes through the medium of transacting factors. The renal enlargement response can also be modified by endocrine hormones that can activate such genes directly and/or stimulate other adjunctive processes, like receptor expression for the regional binding of growth factors. Furthermore, renal enlargement is under negative feedback of inhibitory factors like TGF beta. It is possible, for example, that special genes exist which are only expressed to arrest enlargement. It has been further suggested that activation of the Na+/H+ antiporter is a common denominator in renal enlargement. Recent findings, however, indicate that the activation of this antiporter is not always necessary, and might rather be a parallel event rather than a key phenomena in tubular enlargement. G0/G1 transition of tubular cells seems to involve similar factors in tubular hypertrophy and hyperplasia. The factors which are responsible for the final determination of the enlargement pattern (hypertrophy vs. proliferation) are unknown. The separation between hypertrophy and hyperplasia, although suggested by striking differences in cellular regulation, may be somewhat artificial, since responses leading to tubular enlargement also exist in circumstances where hyperplasia and hypertrophy are combined events. Recently it has been proposed that growth factors stimulate gluconeogenesis in proximal tubular cells producing hyperplasia, whereas factors inhibiting gluconeogenesis might induce hypertrophy. Whether the common pathway message of this intriguing hypothesis is correct still requires further validation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Characterization of a cDNA Clone for Mouse Phenobarbital-Inducible Cytochrome P-450b

p40, a mouse 1040-nucleotide cDNA clone encoding a form of phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P-450b, was selected by probing a cDNA library derived from phenobarbital-treated DBA/2N mouse liver with a rat 1830-nucleotide cDNA probe complementary to P-450b mRNA. When rat and mouse liver poly(A)+-enriched total RNAs are probed with p40, control rat P-450b mRNA levels are at least three times as much as control mouse P-450b levels. A 15-fold increase in rat 19S mRNA and only a 3-fold increase in the corresponding mouse 19S mRNA are found following phenobarbital treatment. An intranuclear 4800-nucleotide mRNA precursor is also detectable during the induction process with phenobarbital. Clofibrate, a hypolipidemic drug, is a potent inducer of P-450. There is no cross-hybridization between clofibrate-induced mRNA and either mouse P-450b cDNA or mouse P1-450 cDNA clones. At the level of hybridization stringency used for the Northern analysis, there is no cross-hybridization between phenobarbital-induced mouse or rat P-450b and the P1-450 cDNA probe or between 3-methylcholanthrene-induced mouse or rat P1-450 and the P-450b cDNA probe. These data indicate that the induction process by clofibrate involves activation of P-450 gene(s) not present in the multigene families inducible by either phenobarbital or polycyclic aromatic compounds, i.e., at least three sets of P-450 genes operate independently of one another. Two previously reported cDNA clones of phenobarbital-inducible rat P-450, R17 (P- 450e ) and pcP- 450pb4 (P-450b), were compared with mouse p40.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Messenger RNA regulation during compensatory renal growth

The normal pattern of mRNA metabolism almost certainly becomes altered after uninephrectomy, especially during the first day when ribosomes accumulate in the proximal tubular cells of the remaining kidney. For example, within the first hour after nephrectomy, the fraction of newly synthesized poly(A)-deficient mRNA increases relative to poly(A)-containing mRNA. Investigation of other growth-specific regulatory changes in renal mRNA has been complicated by its heterogeneity with respect to translational activity, polyadenylate content, membrane association, and cytoplasmic distribution. In general, analysis of kidney mRNA metabolism during growth has not been sufficiently thorough in that few timepoints have been examined after nephrectomy and the techniques used have been suited primarily to the study of only abundant mRNA sequences. Application of recombinant DNA methods should eliminate these difficulties and permit quantitative measurement of growth-specific genetic events during compensatory growth of the kidney.

Translation of rat kidney mRNA after cadmium administration

1. Twenty-four hours after the administration of Cd2+ (11 mumol/kg body weight) to rats, the kidneys were removed and the RNA was extracted from the polysomes and used to prepare poly(A) RNA. 2. The poly(A)+ RNA was translated in rabbit reticulocyte lysates containing different labelled amino acids as precursors and the resultant proteins were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. 3. The labelling of the proteins was similar using poly(A)+ RNA obtained from control and Cd2+ treated rats except for two proteins. 4. Regardless of labelled precursor used, proteins of mobility in sodium dodecylsulphate electrophoresis of mol. wt 50,000 contained approx twice as much radioactivity using the RNA from the kidney of treated rats. 5. Using labelled leucine, lysine, and cysteine, but not labelled phenylalanine or histidine, proteins of mobility in sodium dodecylsulphate electrophoresis of mol. wt 10,000 contained approx twice as much radioactivity using the RNA from the kidney of the Cd2+ treated rats. These results and the results following carboxymethylation of the proteins prior to electrophoresis, together with the results from co-electrophoresis of the products [125-I]-labelled liver metallothionein support the view that the poly(A)+ RNA contains kidney mRNA for metallothionein.

Sequence diversity of nuclear and polysomal polyadenylated and non-polyadenylated RNA in normal and regenerating rat liver

A DNA probe purified from RNA . DNA hybrids of total sham-operated liver RNA and non-repetitive DNA was used to show that nuclear poly(A)-rich RNA from sham-operated liver and from 2.5-h and 48-h regenerating liver contains about 50% of the complexity of total liver RNA. It was further shown that the differences between normal and regenerating liver, reported earlier from this laboratory, occur in the poly(A)-free fraction of nuclear RNA. At the polysome level it was found that polysomal RNA has one-third of the sequence diversity of total RNA and of this, approximately 65% can be accounted for by poly(A)-rich and 55% by poly(A)-free molecules. When DNA probes were prepared from hybrids formed using polysomal RNA from sham-operated liver and regenerating liver at 2.5 h and 48 h post-hepatectomy and then employed in reactions with homologous and heterologous RNAs, no differences were detectable between either normal and regenerating liver or regenerating liver at times during hypertrophy and hyperplasia.

Effect of DNA on thyroid-hormone binding by specific receptor proteins from rat-liver nuclei

Influence of double-stranded native DNA on the binding of thyroid hormone, 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine, by the isolated nuclear receptors was studied and the following results were obtained. (1) The receptor-triiodothyronine complexes bound to DNA with moderate affinities. (2) DNA enhanced the hormone binding of the receptors. (3) The stimulatory DNA effect on triiodothyronine binding of the receptors was dependent on DNA concentration, showing its maximum at 30 microgram/ml. (4) The increase in triiodothyronine binding was observed not only in the initial velocity but also in the plateau level which was attained after sufficient incubation time. (5) There were two types of specific receptors in the rat liver nuclear extract. The dissociation constants and the maximal binding capacities for triiodothyronine, which were determined by Scatchard plot analysis in the presence and absence of DNA, suggested that DNA exerted its effect through increasing binding capacity on one class of the receptors and through enhancing affinity for the hormone on the other class of the receptors. (6) Among various polynucleotides examined, the double-stranded eukaryotic DNA was most effective in enhancing the hormone binding by the receptors. These results indicate that the nuclear thyroid hormone receptors interact with double-stranded DNA in a specific manner and are induced to bind more thyroid hormone. We interpret these results as suggesting that a ternary complex of triiodothyronine, the receptor and DNA is formed in the cell nucleus in vivo, probably representing an intrinsic step in the hormone action. Possible physiological significance of this effect of DNA on the receptors is discussed.