Effects of increased renal tubular vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on fibrosis, cyst formation, and glomerular disease.

ABSTRACT: The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in renal fibrosis, tubular cyst formation, and glomerular diseases is incompletely understood. We studied a new conditional transgenic mouse system [Pax8-rtTA/(tetO)(7)VEGF], which allows increased tubular VEGF production in adult mice. The following pathology was observed. The interstitial changes consisted of a ubiquitous proliferation of peritubular capillaries and fibroblasts, followed by deposition of matrix leading to a unique kind of fibrosis, ie, healthy tubules amid a capillary-rich dense fibrotic tissue. In tubular segments with high expression of VEGF, cysts developed that were surrounded by a dense network of peritubular capillaries. The glomerular effects consisted of a proliferative enlargement of glomerular capillaries, f

SUBMITTER: Hakroush S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2774053 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature