A Novel Role for GATA3 in Mesangial Cells in Glomerular Development and Injury
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY
Authors: Grigorieva, Irina V.; Oszwald, Andre; Grigorieva, Elena F.; Schachner, Helga; Neudert, Barbara; Ostendorf, Tammo; Floege, Juergen; Lindenmeyer, Maja T.; Cohen, Clemens D.; Panzer, Ulf; Aigner, Christof; Schmidt, Alice; Grosveld, Frank; Thakker, Rajesh V.; Rees, Andrew Jackson; Kain, Renate
Abstract
Background GATA3 is a dual-zinc finger transcription factor that regulates gene expression in many developing tissues. In the kidney, GATA3 is essential for ureteric bud branching, and mice without it fail to develop kidneys. In humans, autosomal dominant GATA3 mutations can cause renal aplasia as part of the hypoparathyroidism, renal dysplasia, deafness (HDR) syndrome that includes mesangioproliferative GN. This suggests that GATA3 may have a previously unrecognized role in glomerular development or injury. Methods To determine GATA3's role in glomerular development or injury, we assessed GATA3 expression in developing and mature kidneys from Gata3 heterozygous ((+)/-) knockout mice, as well as injured human and rodent kidneys. Results We show that GATA3 is expressed by FOXD1 lineage stromal progenitor cells, and a subset of these cells mature into mesangial cells (MCs) that continue to express GATA3 in adult kidneys. In mice, we uncover that GATA3 is essential for normal glomerular development, and mice with haploinsufficiency of Gata3 have too few MC precursors and glomerular abnormalities. Expression of GATA3 is maintained in MCs of adult kidneys and is markedly increased in rodent models of mesangioproliferative GN and in IgA nephropathy, suggesting that GATA3 plays a critical role in the maintenance of glomerular homeostasis. Conclusions These results provide new insights on the role GATA3 plays in MC development and response to injury. It also shows that GATA3 may be a novel and robust nuclear marker for identifying MCs in tissue sections.
Association of Maternal Regulatory Single Nucleotide Polymorphic CD99 Genotype with Preeclampsia in Pregnancies Carrying Male Fetuses in Ethiopian Women
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Authors: Kelemu, Tsehayneh; Erlandsson, Lena; Seifu, Daniel; Abebe, Markos; Teklu, Sisay; Storry, Jill; Hansson, Stefan
Abstract
Preeclampsia (PE) is a human specific syndrome with unknown etiology causing maternal and fetal morbidities and mortalities. In PE, maternal inflammatory responses are more exaggerated if the fetus is male than female. Other pregnancy complications such as spontaneous abortions are also more common if the fetus is male. Recent transcriptome findings showed an increased expression of CD99 in erythroid cells from male cord blood in PE. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs311103, located in a GATA-binding site in a regulatory region on the X/Y chromosomes, governs a coordinated expression of the Xg blood group members CD99 and Xg(a)in hematopoietic cells in a sex-dependent fashion. The rs311103C disrupts the GATA-binding site, resulting in decreased CD99 expression. We aimed to investigate the association between PE and the allele frequency of rs311103 in pregnancies in a fetal sex-dependent fashion. In a case-controlled study, we included 241 pregnant women, i.e., 105 PE cases and 136 normotensive controls. A SNP allelic discrimination analysis was performed on DNA from maternal venous blood and fetal cord blood by qPCR. A statistically significant association was observed between rs311103 allele frequency and PE in mothers carrying male fetuses. Therefore, the rs311103 genotype may play a role in the pathogenesis of PE in a fetal sex-specific manner.