著者
KIDA Yujiro ASAHINA Kinji INOUE Kouji KAWADA Norifumi YOSHIZATO Katsutoshi WAKE Kenjiro SATO Tetsuji
出版者
International Society of Histology and Cytology
雑誌
Archives of histology and cytology (ISSN:09149465)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.70, no.2, pp.95-106, 2007-06-30
被引用文献数
10

The expression of the cytoglobin/stellate cell activation-associated protein (Cygb/STAP) was recently confirmed in all splanchnic vitamin A-storing cells - including hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) - in normal conditions. In the hepatic fibrous lesion, the expression of Cygb/STAP has been shown to be upregulated in activated HSCs and myofibroblasts (MFs), which have synthesized extracellular matrices. Furthermore, splanchnic vitamin A-storing cells have been reported to be distributed in the kidney. In this study, we clarify the contribution of vitamin A-storing cells to renal fibrosis by focusing on Cygb/ STAP. Adult mice were subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and kidneys were harvested 1, 3, 7, and 10 days after UUO.<BR> Numbers of Cygb/STAP-immunopositive cells as well as Cygb/STAP mRNA 3 days after UUO (UUO day 3 kidney) increased. Vitamin A-autofluorescence was observed in intertubular spaces of controls but gradually declined in a time-dependent manner after UUO. Cygb/STAP<SUP>+</SUP> cells were not completely identical with α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA)-positive cells in the control or UUO day 7 kidneys. Immunohistochemical analysis for Cygb/STAP and fibulin-2 (Fib), a specific marker for distinguishing MFs from activated HSCs, revealed that the number of Fib<SUP>+</SUP>STAP<SUP>+</SUP> cells (MFs) and Fib-STAP<SUP>+</SUP> cells (splanchnic vitamin A-storing cells) significantly increased in UUO day 3 and UUO day 7 kidneys compared with the controls. Our present findings support the concept that Cygb/STAP can be a unique marker for splanchnic fibroblast-like cells, namely the vitamin A-storing cell lineage, and suggest that splanchnic vitamin A-storing cells contribute to renal fibrogenesis in the obstructed kidney.