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Study of the effect of the podocyte-specific palladin knockout in mice with a 129 genetic background
(2023)
Worldwide, chronic kidney disease is one of the leading public health problems. Podocytes, highly specialized postmitotic cells in the filtration unit of the kidney glomerulus, are essential for the size selectivity of the filtration barrier. Loss of the complex 3D morphology of their interdigitating foot processes, effacement and detachment of the cells from the capillaries lead to proteinuria and often loss of kidney function.
Since the morphology of podocyte foot processes is highly dependent on an intact actin cytoskeleton and actin-binding proteins, we investigated the role of the actin-binding protein palladin in podocytes from mice with a 129 genetic background, that is more susceptible to kidney injury. PodoPalld129-/- mice were examined at 6 and 12 months of age using immunofluorescence staining, electron and 3D super-resolution microscopy as well as qRT-PCR.
Our analysis of PodoPalld129-/- mice at 6 and 12 months of age showed that podocyte- specific knockout of palladin results in dilation of the capillary tuft accompanied by loss of mesangial cells, indicating the influence of palladin on glomerular tuft formation. Besides, we observed morphological abnormalities such as an enlarged sub-podocyte space, cyst formations and an increased number of cell-cell contacts between podocytes and parietal epithelial cells in PodoPalld129-/- mice compared to controls. Moreover, palladin knockout resulted in downregulation of the slit diaphragm protein nephrin as well as an age-dependent significant increase in podocyte foot process effacement. Although there was a significant change in foot process morphology, we did not detect albuminuria in PodoPalld129-/- mice of both age groups. However, we found an increase of trefoil factor 1 (Tff1) in the urine of the mice, indicating an altered, more permeable filtration barrier.
Considering that palladin has several binding sites for important actin-binding and regulatory proteins, we studied the expression of Lasp-1, Pdlim2, VASP and Klotho in dependence on palladin. We found a remarkable reduction in, for example, phosphorylated Lasp-1 as well as Klotho, which could influence the morphology of podocyte foot processes.
Compared with PodoPalldBL/6-/- mice, PodoPalld129-/- mice showed stronger glomerular tuft dilation and developed podocytes with increased morphological abnormalities, underlining the importance of the genetic background.
In conclusion, these results demonstrate the essential role of palladin for podocyte morphology in mice with a 129 genetic background.
Increasing the information depth of single kidney biopsies can improve diagnostic precision, personalized medicine and accelerate basic kidney research. Until now, information on mRNA abundance and morphologic analysis has been obtained from different samples, missing out on the spatial context and single-cell correlation of findings. Herein, we present scoMorphoFISH, a modular toolbox to obtain spatial single-cell single-mRNA expression data from routinely generated kidney biopsies. Deep learning was used to virtually dissect tissue sections in tissue compartments and cell types to which single-cell expression data were assigned. Furthermore, we show correlative and spatial single-cell expression quantification with super-resolved podocyte foot process morphometry. In contrast to bulk analysis methods, this approach will help to identify local transcription changes even in less frequent kidney cell types on a spatial single-cell level with single-mRNA resolution. Using this method, we demonstrate that ACE2 can be locally upregulated in podocytes upon injury. In a patient suffering from COVID-19-associated collapsing FSGS, ACE2 expression levels were correlated with intracellular SARS-CoV-2 abundance. As this method performs well with standard formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples and we provide pretrained deep learning networks embedded in a comprehensive image analysis workflow, this method can be applied immediately in a variety of settings.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health burden affecting more than 500 million people worldwide. Podocytopathies are the main cause for the majority of CKD cases due to pathogenic morphological as well as molecular biological alterations of postmitotic podocytes. Podocyte de-differentiation is associated with foot process effacement subsequently leading to proteinuria. Since currently no curative drugs are available, high throughput screening methods using a small number of animals are a promising and essential tool to identify potential drugs against CKD in the near future. Our study presents the implementation of the already established mouse GlomAssay as a semi-automated high-throughput screening method—shGlomAssay—allowing the analysis of several hundreds of FDA-verified compounds in combination with downstream pathway analysis like transcriptomic and proteomic analyses from the same samples, using a small number of animals. In an initial prescreening we have identified vitamin D3 and its analog calcipotriol to be protective on podocytes. Furthermore, by using RT-qPCR, Western blot, and RNA sequencing, we found that mRNA and protein expression of nephrin, the vitamin D receptor and specific podocyte markers were significantly up-regulated due to vitamin D3- and calcipotriol-treatment. In contrast, kidney injury markers were significantly down-regulated. Additionally, we found that vitamin D3 and calcipotriol have had neither influence on the expression of the miR-21 and miR-30a nor on miR-125a/b, a miRNA described to regulate the vitamin D receptor. In summary, we advanced the established mouse GlomAssay to a semi-automated high-throughput assay and combined it with downstream analysis techniques by using only a minimum number of animals. Hereby, we identified the vitamin D signaling pathway as podocyte protective and to be counteracting their de-differentiation.
The global prevalence of kidney diseases has been steadily rising over the last decades. Today, around 10% of the world population suffers from relevant chronic kidney disease. Podocytes are highly specialized and terminally differentiated cells residing in the filtering units of the kidneys, the so-called glomeruli. With their interdigitating foot-processes, these cells are a crucial part of the renal filtration barrier. As podocytes are post-mitotic, injury or loss of these cells results in an impairment of the filtration barrier with subsequent loss of global kidney function. Therefore, the question whether a relevant amount of podocytes can be regenerated and if this regeneration can be influenced is crucial for future therapeutic developments. As in vivo microscopic imaging of podocytes in higher animals like mice or rats is rather challenging, larval zebrafish have been applied as an animal model for podocyte development and kidney filtration. 48 hours post fertilization, zebrafish larvae develop a single filtering glomerulus with a similar morphology and molecular construction to that in mammals. For evaluation of podocyte morphology and filtration, we used transgenic zebrafish strains in which podocytes were labeled with fluorescence proteins. Additionally, podocytes expressed the bacterial enzyme nitroreductase fused to the fluorescence protein mCherry. In this model, application of the antibiotic metronidazole leads to podocyte-specific cell death. Through cross-breeding we established strains that additionally express an eGFP-labeled protein in the blood plasma. Using in vivo two-photon microscopy, we could image podocyte-loss induced impairments of the glomerular filtration barrier. Additionally, we tracked characteristic morphological changes of podocyte morphology including podocyte foot process effacement, development of sub-podocyte pseudocysts and finally detachment of whole cells from the glomerular basement membrane. These changes have been before described histologically in different animal models as well as in patient biopsies. Using the in vivo microscopy approach, we could clearly describe the temporal sequence of these alterations. Finally, we also tracked individual, non-detached podocytes over up to 24 hours, and found that these cells were non-migratory. These results show that early podocyte-regeneration through immigration of intra- or extraglomerular cells is unlikely within the first 24 hours of acute glomerular injury.
Die Podozyten bilden mit ihren Aktin-reichen, interdigitierenden Fußfortsätzen und mit Schlitzmembran die entscheidende Einheit der glomerulären Filtrationsbarriere. Verschiedene Störungen der Podozytenfunktion bewirken chronische Nierenerkrankungen, darunter die fokal segmentale Glomerulosklerose. Mäuse, die keine Expression des 80 kDa-Proteins CD2AP in den Podozyten aufweisen, entwickeln auf noch ungeklärte Weise eine progrediente und in nur sechs Wochen post partum letal endende Niereninsuffizienz mit Proteinurie. Histopathomorphologisch lässt sich ein Verlust der Podozyten-Fußfortsätze sowie eine Glomerulosklerose nachweisen. Auch beim Menschen sind Mutationen von CD2AP mit einer Glomerulosklerose assoziiert. CD2AP ist ein Docking-Protein der CMS/CIN85-Familie. Mit seinen drei SH3-Domänen, seiner Prolin-reichen Region und weiteren Bindungsstellen ist CD2AP in der Lage, mit einer Vielzahl von Proteinen zu interagieren. Eine Gruppe der Interaktionspartner von CD2AP bilden F-Aktin und Aktin-assoziierte Proteine. Da wir in vorangehenden Arbeiten zeigen konnten, dass CD2AP in kultivierten Podozyten an hochdynamischen F-Aktin-Spots lokalisiert ist (Welsch et al. 2001; Welsch et al. 2005), war es das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit, zu klären, ob CD2AP an der Regulation der Aktin-Dynamik in den Podozyten beteiligt ist. Zu diesem Zweck wurde das Aktin-Zytoskelett von kultivierten Podozyten aus CD2AP-Knockout-Mäusen im Vergleich zu kultivierten Wildtyp-Podozyten untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass CD2AP-/--Podozyten deutliche phenotypische Veränderungen im F-Aktin-Zytoskelett gegenüber Wildtyp-Podozyten aufweisen. So besitzen CD2AP-/--Podozyten eine polygonale Zellmorphologie aufgrund fast fehlender Lamellipodia sowie vermehrt F-Aktin-Spots, F-Aktin-Stress-Fasern und damit auch größere Fokaladhäsionen. Neben den zunächst beobachteten strukturellen Veränderungen des Aktin-Zytoskeletts fanden sich auch deutliche Veränderungen in der Aktin-Dynamik. So erfolgt der Abbau des Aktin-Zytoskeletts in CD2AP-/--Podozyten nach der Inhibierung der Plus-Enden der Aktin-Filamente mit Cytochalasin D verlangsamt und inkomplett. Ein morphologisch nicht unterscheidbarer inkompletter Abbau des Aktin-Zytoskeletts konnte durch Inhibierung der Aktomyosin-ATPase-Aktivität mittels Blebbistatin in den Wildtyp-Zellen erzeugt werden, was auf eine mögliche Interaktion zwischen CD2AP und Myosin II hinweist. Unter Verwendung der FRAP-Technik konnte in GFP-Aktin-transfizierten CD2AP-/-- und Wildtyp-Podozyten der Umsatz von Aktin bestimmt werden. Hierbei zeigte sich, dass CD2AP-/-- und Wildtyp-Podozyten keine unterschiedlichen Aktin-Umsatzgeschwindigkeiten besitzen. Durch Stimulation mit Epidermal Growth Factor können in den Podozyten ringförmige hochdynamische Aktin-Strukturen, sogenannte RiLiS (Ring-Like Structures), hervorgerufen werden. In CD2AP-/--Podozyten war die Bildung und die Motilität von RiLiS erheblich vermindert. Durch Transfektion der CD2AP-/--Podozyten mit GFP-CD2AP konnte die Bildung und Motilität der RiLiS wiederhergestellt werden. Die Hemmung der Aktomyosin-ATPase mit Blebbistatin sowie die Hemmung der PI3-Kinase mit Wortmannin oder LY294002 blockierten die Bildung von RiLiS, wobei nur die Hemmung der PI3-Kinase mit einer Motilitätsverminderung einherging. Messungen der Phosphorylierung von AKT und ERK nach Stimulation mit EGF zeigten jedoch eine unverminderte Aktivierung der beiden Signalwege in CD2AP-/--Podozyten. Auch eine verminderte Bildung von PIP3 in den RiLiS konnte durch Fluoreszenzintensitätsmessungen mit PIP3-bindenden GFP-PH-Fusionsproteinen ausgeschlossen werden. Die C-terminale Hälfte von CD2AP enthält eine putative F-Aktin-Bindungsstelle und Bindungsstellen für Aktin-assoziierte Proteine. Die Expression eines GFP-Fusionsproteins der C-terminalen Hälfte von CD2AP (GFP-?N-CD2AP, AS 325-637) war ausreichend, um eine Lokalisation des Konstrukts in den RiLiS zu erreichen, während ein GFP-Fusionsprotein der N-terminalen Hälfte von CD2AP keine Anreicherung in den RiLiS zeigte. GFP-DN-CD2AP war ebenfalls in der Lage die Bildung und Motilität von RiLiS in den CD2AP-/--Podozyten wiederherzustellen. Die schrittweise Verkürzung des GFP-DN-CD2AP-Konstrukts am C-terminalen-Ende zeigte, dass die Prolin-reiche Region von CD2AP (AS 325-424) zusammen mit dem Bereich zwischen den Aminosäuren 424-505 für die Bildung und Motilität der RiLiS essenziell ist. Das Konstrukt, das nur noch die Prolin-reiche Region von CD2AP enthielt, verminderte die Bildung und Motilität der RiLiS im Sinne eines dominant-negativen Effektes. Zusammenfassend zeigt die vorliegende Arbeit erstmals, dass CD2AP in den Podozyten bei der Regulation der Aktin-Dynamik eine nicht-redundante Funktion besitzt. Der Bereich von CD2AP, der die Bindungsstellen für F-Aktin und Aktin-assoziierte Proteine enthält, spielt für die Ausübung dieser Funktion eine entscheidende Rolle