Fig. 3. Cellular changes in the kidneys of TgALK3^QD/QD mice. (A) Cell proliferation in kidney tissue of P10 mice detected by anti-Ki67 and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies. Left: Hematoxylin-stained tissue demonstrates a marked increase in the number of cells expressing Ki-67 (red) in non-cystic and cystic tissue elements of Tg mouse kidneys compared with control kidneys. Right: quantitation of cell proliferation showed a 6.4-fold and 17.1-fold increase in non-cystic and cystic tissue elements, respectively, of TgALK3^QD/QD versus control mice. (B) E-cadherin expression is decreased in TgALK3^QD/QD kidney tissue. Left: quantitation of E-cadherin protein in whole kidney lysate demonstrated a 64% decrease in TgALK3^QD/QD versus control mice. Right: immunohistochemistry using anti-E-cadherin and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies. E-cadherin is expressed in all epithelial tubules in control kidneys. By contrast, in TgALK3^QD/QD kidney tissue, expression is reduced in a subset of tubules with cuboidal (*) or squamous (#) epithelium. (C) MYC expression is increased in TgALK3^QD/QD kidney tissue. Left: quantitation of MYC protein in whole kidney lysate demonstrated a 542% increase in TgALK3^QD/QD versus control mice. Right: immunohistochemistry using anti-MYC and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies. MYC is almost undetectable in control kidneys. By contrast, in TgALK3^QD/QD kidney tissue, expression is markedly increased in cystic epithelium (red color marking cell nuclei). Data are mean±s.d. Number of independent experiments were: E-cadherin, n=4; MYC, n=6.

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