QiShenYiQi Attenuates Renal Interstitial Fibrosis by Blocking the Activation of β-Catenin

Kidney tubular β-catenin signaling controls interstitial fibroblast fate via epithelial-mesenchymal communication

Activation of β-catenin, the principal mediator of canonical Wnt signaling, is a common pathologic finding in a wide variety of chronic kidney diseases (CKD). While β-catenin is induced predominantly in renal tubular epithelium in CKD, surprisingly, depletion of tubular β-catenin had little effect on the severity of renal fibrosis. Interestingly, less apoptosis was detected in interstitial fibr...

Blocking SIRT 1/2 inhibits renal interstitial fibroblast activation and attenuates renal interstitial fibrosis in obstructive nephropathy

Role of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in inducing apoptosis and renal fibrosis in 5/6-nephrectomized rats

Renal fibrosis is the final common pathway of all progressive renal disease. Excessive and chronic activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway results in chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. To mimic CKD, the present study used 5/6-nephrectomized rats, and alterations in kidney histology, expression of β‑catenin and renal cell apoptosis were assessed. In addition, mesangial cells wer...

Blocking sirtuin 1 and 2 inhibits renal interstitial fibroblast activation and attenuates renal interstitial fibrosis in obstructive nephropathy.

Our recent studies revealed that blocking class I/II histone deacetylases (HDACs) inhibits renal interstitial fibroblast activation and proliferation and alleviates development of renal fibrosis. However, the effect of class III HDAC, particularly sirtuin 1 and 2 (SIRT1 and SIRT2), inhibition on renal fibrogenesis remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that both SIRT1 and SIRT2 were expressed in...

Pigment epithelium-derived factor attenuates myocardial fibrosis via inhibiting Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in rats with acute myocardial infarction

Endothelial mesenchymal transition (EndMT) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis and progression of interstitial and perivascular fibrosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is shown to be a new therapeutic target owing to its protective role in cardiovascular disease. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that PEDF is an endogenous inhibitor...