Gudrun Volkert, Angelika Jahn, Christina Dinkel, Fabian Fahlbusch, Christina Zürn, Karl F Hilgers, Wolfgang Rascher, Andrea Hartner, Ines Marek
In the kidney, the α8 integrin chain (itga8) is expressed in mesenchymal cells and is upregulated in fibrotic disease. We hypothesized that itga8 mediates a profibrotic phenotype of renal cells by promoting extracellular matrix and cytokine expression. Genetic itga8 deficiency caused complex changes in matrix expression patterns in mesangial and smooth-muscle cells, with the only concordant effect in both cell types being a reduction of collagen III expression. Silencing of itga8 with siRNA led to a decline of matrix turnover with repression of matrix metalloproteinases and reduction of matrix production...
April 2014: Cell Communication & Adhesion