VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with a decrease in the expression of VEGF-A. However, little is known about the contribution of VEGF-A splice isoforms to kidney physiology and pathology. Previous studies suggest that the splice isoform VEGF-A165b (resulting from alternative usage...

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Main Authors: Stevens, Megan, Neal, Christopher R., Salmon, Andrew H.J., Bates, David O., Harper, Steve J., Oltean, Sebastian
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43073/
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author Stevens, Megan
Neal, Christopher R.
Salmon, Andrew H.J.
Bates, David O.
Harper, Steve J.
Oltean, Sebastian
author_facet Stevens, Megan
Neal, Christopher R.
Salmon, Andrew H.J.
Bates, David O.
Harper, Steve J.
Oltean, Sebastian
author_sort Stevens, Megan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with a decrease in the expression of VEGF-A. However, little is known about the contribution of VEGF-A splice isoforms to kidney physiology and pathology. Previous studies suggest that the splice isoform VEGF-A165b (resulting from alternative usage of a 3’ splice site in the terminal exon) is protective for kidney function. We show here, in a quad-transgenic model, that over-expression of VEGF-A165b alone is sufficient to rescue the increase in proteinuria as well as glomerular water permeability in the context of progressive depletion of all VEGF-A isoforms from the podocytes. Ultrastructural studies show that the glomerular basement membrane is thickened, podocyte slit width is increased and sub-podocyte space coverage is reduced when VEGF-A is depleted, all of which are rescued in VEGF-A165b over-expressors. VEGF-A165b restores the expression of PECAM-1 in glomerular endothelial cells and glomerular capillary circumference. Mechanistically, it increases VEGFR2 expression both in vivo and in vitro and down-regulates genes involved in migration and proliferation of endothelial cells, otherwise up-regulated by the canonical isoform VEGF-A165. Our study indicates that manipulation of VEGF-A splice isoforms could be a novel therapeutic avenue in chronic glomerular disease.
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spelling nottingham-430732020-05-04T19:09:31Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43073/ VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney Stevens, Megan Neal, Christopher R. Salmon, Andrew H.J. Bates, David O. Harper, Steve J. Oltean, Sebastian Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with a decrease in the expression of VEGF-A. However, little is known about the contribution of VEGF-A splice isoforms to kidney physiology and pathology. Previous studies suggest that the splice isoform VEGF-A165b (resulting from alternative usage of a 3’ splice site in the terminal exon) is protective for kidney function. We show here, in a quad-transgenic model, that over-expression of VEGF-A165b alone is sufficient to rescue the increase in proteinuria as well as glomerular water permeability in the context of progressive depletion of all VEGF-A isoforms from the podocytes. Ultrastructural studies show that the glomerular basement membrane is thickened, podocyte slit width is increased and sub-podocyte space coverage is reduced when VEGF-A is depleted, all of which are rescued in VEGF-A165b over-expressors. VEGF-A165b restores the expression of PECAM-1 in glomerular endothelial cells and glomerular capillary circumference. Mechanistically, it increases VEGFR2 expression both in vivo and in vitro and down-regulates genes involved in migration and proliferation of endothelial cells, otherwise up-regulated by the canonical isoform VEGF-A165. Our study indicates that manipulation of VEGF-A splice isoforms could be a novel therapeutic avenue in chronic glomerular disease. Wiley 2017-10-01 Article PeerReviewed Stevens, Megan, Neal, Christopher R., Salmon, Andrew H.J., Bates, David O., Harper, Steve J. and Oltean, Sebastian (2017) VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney. Journal of Physiology, 595 (19). pp. 6281-6298. ISSN 1469-7793 Vascular endothelial growth factor alternative splicing reno-protection http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/JP274481/full doi:10.1113/JP274481 doi:10.1113/JP274481
spellingShingle Vascular endothelial growth factor
alternative splicing
reno-protection
Stevens, Megan
Neal, Christopher R.
Salmon, Andrew H.J.
Bates, David O.
Harper, Steve J.
Oltean, Sebastian
VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title_full VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title_fullStr VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title_full_unstemmed VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title_short VEGF-A165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous VEGF-A splice isoforms from the kidney
title_sort vegf-a165b protects against proteinuria in a mouse model with progressive depletion of all endogenous vegf-a splice isoforms from the kidney
topic Vascular endothelial growth factor
alternative splicing
reno-protection
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43073/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43073/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43073/