Biomedical subjects

David L Gasser

Publications and source records attributed to David L Gasser.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

The mitochondrial and kidney disease phenotypes of kd/kd mice under germfree conditions.

Interstitial nephritis occurs spontaneously in kd/kd mice, but the mechanisms leading to this disease have not been fully elucidated. The earliest manifestation of a phenotype is the appearance of ultrastructural defects in the mitochondria of mice as young as 42 days of age. To examine the influence of the environment on the phenotype, homozygous B6.kd/kd mice were transferred from specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions to a germfree (GF) environment, and the development of the disease was observed. The GF state resulted in a highly significant reduction in the frequency of tubulointerstitial nephritis. In addition, GF conditions markedly reduced the appearance of the mitochondrial phenotype, with no sign of mitochondrial abnormalities in GF mice of up to 155 days of age. These results suggest that environmental factors are involved in the progression of all known manifestations of this disease phenotype.

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PubMed2005

Glomerular and tubular epithelial defects in kd/kd mice lead to progressive renal failure.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The kd/kd mouse spontaneously develops severe and progressive nephritis leading to renal failure, characterized by cellular infiltration, tubular destruction and glomerular sclerosis. Recent identification of the mutant gene and the observation that podocytes are affected, led to the hypothesis that there are primary renal epithelial cell defects in this strain. METHODS: Clinical and pathological signs of disease in a large cohort of kd/kd mice were studied by light microscopy, electron microscopy, and biochemical analyses of serum and urine at early stages of disease. Special attention was paid to mice under 140 days of age that had normal blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, but had developed albuminuria. RESULTS: Although overt glomerular abnormalities are commonly observed either coincident with or after tubulointerstitial nephritis, we now report that albuminuria and visceral epithelial abnormalities, including hyperplasia and podocyte effacement may occur before the onset of either elevated BUN levels or severe interstitial nephritis, and this is accompanied by biochemical perturbations in serum typical of the nephrotic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the defect in kd/kd mice primarily affects both the tubular and glomerular visceral epithelium. The tubular epithelial defect triggers autoimmune interstitial nephritis, whereas a defect in podocytes leads to proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis. Thus, a single mitochondrial abnormality may result in differences in disease expression that vary with the type of epithelial cells. It is likely that the mitochrondrial perturbations in glomerular and tubular epithelia act in concert, through activation of different pathologic pathways, to accelerate disease progression leading to renal failure.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

The kd/kd mouse is a model of collapsing glomerulopathy.

Collapsing glomerulopathy (CG) is associated with disorders that markedly perturb the phenotype of podocytes. The kd/kd mouse has been studied for immune and genetic causes of microcystic tubulointerstitial nephritis with little attention to its glomerular lesion. Because histologic examination revealed classic morphologic features of CG, the question arises whether podocytes in kd/kd mice exhibit additional phenotypic criteria for CG. Utilizing Tg26 mice as a positive control, immunohistochemical profiling of the podocyte phenotype was conducted simultaneously on both models. Similar to Tg26 kidneys, podocytes in kd/kd kidneys showed de novo cyclin D1, Ki-67, and desmin expression with loss of synaptopodin and WT-1 expression. Electron micrographs showed collapsed capillaries, extensive foot process effacement, and dysmorphic mitochondria in podocytes. These results indicate that the kd/kd mouse is a model of CG and raise the possibility that human equivalents of the kd susceptibility gene may exist in patients with CG.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Mutant prenyltransferase-like mitochondrial protein (PLMP) and mitochondrial abnormalities in kd/kd mice.

BACKGROUND: Mice that are homozygous for the kidney disease (kd) mutation are apparently healthy for the first 8 weeks of life, but spontaneously develop a severe form of interstitial nephritis that progresses to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) by 4 to 8 months of age. By testing for linkage to microsatellite markers, we previously localized the kd gene to a YAC/BAC contig. METHODS: The sequence of the entire critical region was examined, and candidate genes were identified. These candidate genes were sequenced in both mutant (kd/kd) mice and normal controls. The phenotype was further characterized by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Transgenic mice were constructed that carried the wild-type allele of the prime candidate gene, and this transgene was transferred to a kd/kd background by breeding. RESULTS: We have obtained evidence that kd is a mutant allele of a novel gene for a prenyltransferase-like mitochondrial protein (PLMP). This gene is alternatively spliced, with the larger gene product having one domain that resembles transprenyltransferase and another that is similar to geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase. The smaller gene product includes only the first domain. An antiserum to PLMP localizes to mitochondria, and ultrastructural defects are present in the mitochondria of renal tubular epithelial cells, and to a lesser extent, hepatocytes and heart cells from kd/kd mice. In a line of kd/kd mice that carried the wild-type PLMP allele as a transgene, only 1 out of 13 animals expressed the disease by 120 days of age. CONCLUSION: The kd allele codes for a novel protein that localizes to the mitochondria, and the kd/kd mouse has dysmorphic mitochondria in the renal tubular epithelial cells. This mouse is therefore a unique animal model for studying mechanisms that lead to tubulointerstitial nephritis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Cutting Edge: Multiple autoimmune pathways in kd/kd mice.

The kidney disease (kd) mutation was transferred to a C57BL/6 (B6) background by selection for closely linked microsatellite markers. The resulting congenic strain, B6.kd, was mated with partners homozygous for targeted mutations of CD4, CD8, CD28, IL-2, recombinase-activating gene-1 (Rag-1), ICAM-1, or beta(2)-microglobulin. In most of the resulting double mutants, kidney disease occurred as readily and as severely as in the B6.kd controls, although disease occurred somewhat less frequently in age-matched CD28(-/-) kd/kd mice. Immunohistology demonstrated a predominance of macrophages in the lesions of B6.kd and most of the double mutants, with the remaining cells consisting of T cells and variable numbers of NK cells. In Rag-1(-/-) kd/kd, approximately 50% of infiltrating cells were macrophages, and approximately 50% were NK cells. These results suggest that the initial lesion caused by the mutant gene is intrinsic to the kidney and that the immune response that subsequently occurs can involve any one of several different cellular compositions.

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