Publication: Significance of α-SMA in myofibroblasts
emerging in renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis
Authors
Ina, Keisuke ; Kitamura, Hirokazu ; Tatsukawa, Shuji ; Fujikura, Yoshihisa
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Publisher
F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología
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DOI
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Myofibroblast transdifferentiation plays a
crucial role in the development and progression of renal
tubulointerstitial fibrosis. However, the significance of
α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression, which is
the major morphological characteristic of myofibroblasts,
remains to be determined in detail. The effect of
α-SMA expression on fibrosis tissue was examined by
using a fibrosis model (collagen gel) in vitro. The
transdifferentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts
was triggered in the culture medium with 0.5% fetal
bovine serum (FBS)+transforming growth factor (TGF)-
ß1, but not with 10% FBS+TGF-ß1. The TGF-ß1-
induced gel contraction caused by myofibroblasts was
greater than that by fibroblasts. Gel contraction by
myofibroblasts involved the Ca2+-dependent myosin
light chain kinase pathway, as well as the activation of
Rho kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
(MAPK). Taken together, these findings suggest that α-
SMA expression in renal interstitial fibroblasts, i.e.,
myofibroblast transdifferentiation, accelerates the
contraction of the tubulointerstitial fibrosis tissue via the
Ca2+-dependent pathway, in addition to the pathways
involved in fibroblast contraction; this event may lead to
renal atrophy and renal failure.
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