Diabetic alteration versus postnatal maturation of rat kidney glycoconjugates--comparative detection by lectin probes.

A panel of ten lectins with different carbohydrate specificities, including three original lectin preparations (MPFA, LABA, and LVA), was used for the investigation of rat kidney glycoconjugate remodeling during postnatal morphogenesis, and the findings were compared with the impairments seen in streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy. Postnatal morphogenesis was accompanied by the accumulation and generalization of DMan, LFuc, and NeuNAc, with simultaneous reduction of DGal and DGalNAc sugar determinants and enhanced heterogeneity of renal microstructure. The most significant redistribution of lectin receptor sites was detected between postnatal days 1 and 20. Beginning from postnatal day 20, renal corpuscles showed selective MPFA, WGA, and RCA labeling. Stabilization of carbohydrate determinants on postnatal day 60 coincided with rat kidney maturity. Diabetic nephropathy induced carbohydrate remodeling reciprocal to that seen during postnatal development, that is, enhanced exposure of DGal and DGalNAc, reduced reactivity of DMan, LFuc, and NeuNAc determinants, and increased lectin labeling of renal tubule brush borders. These results extend the existing data on rearrangement of rat kidney glycoconjugates under physiological and pathological conditions, as well as demonstrate the applicability of three original lectin preparations in glycoconjugate histochemistry.