Sphingosine Kinase-2 Deficiency Ameliorates Kidney Fibrosis by Up-Regulating Smad7 in a Mouse Model of Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction.

Schwalm, Stephanie; Beyer, Sandra; Frey, Helena; Haceni, Riad; Grammatikos, Georgios; Thomas, Dominique; Geisslinger, Gerd; Schaefer, Liliana; Huwiler, Andrea; Pfeilschifter, Josef (2017). Sphingosine Kinase-2 Deficiency Ameliorates Kidney Fibrosis by Up-Regulating Smad7 in a Mouse Model of Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction. American journal of pathology, 187(11), pp. 2413-2429. Elsevier 10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.06.017

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Kidney fibrosis is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease and leads to extracellular matrix accumulation, organ scarring, and loss of kidney function. In this study, we investigated the role of sphingosine kinase-2 (SPHK2) on the progression of tubular fibrosis by using a mouse unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model. We found that SPHK2 protein and activity are up-regulated in fibrotic renal tissue. Functionally, Sphk2-deficient (Sphk2(-/-)) mice showed an attenuated fibrotic response to UUO compared with wild-type mice, as demonstrated by reduced collagen abundance and decreased expression of fibronectin-1, collagen I, α-smooth muscle actin, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1). More important, these changes were associated with increased expression of the antifibrotic protein Smad7 and higher levels of sphingosine in Sphk2(-/-) UUO kidneys. Mechanistically, sphingosine ameliorates transforming growth factor-β-induced collagen accumulation, CTGF, and PAI-1 expression, but enhances Smad7 protein expression in primary kidney fibroblasts. In a complementary approach, in human Sphk2-overexpressing mice, UUO resulted in exacerbated signs of fibrosis with increased collagen accumulation, higher expression levels of fibronectin-1, collagen I, α-smooth muscle actin, CTGF, and PAI-1, but decreased Smad7 expression. SPHK2 plays an important role in kidney fibrogenesis by modulating transforming growth factor-β signaling. Thus, SPHK2 might be an attractive new target for the treatment of fibrosis in chronic kidney disease.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Pharmacology

UniBE Contributor:

Huwiler, Andrea

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0002-9440

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Jana Berger

Date Deposited:

19 Oct 2017 16:22

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:07

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.06.017

PubMed ID:

28807595

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.105579

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/105579

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