TonEBP stimulates multiple cellular pathways for adaptation to hypertonic stress: organic osmolyte-dependent and -independent pathways.

ABSTRACT: TonEBP (tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein) is a transcription factor that promotes cellular accumulation of organic osmolytes in the hypertonic renal medulla by stimulating expression of its target genes. Genetically modified animals with deficient TonEBP activity in the kidney suffer from severe medullary atrophy in association with cell death, demonstrating that TonEBP is essential for the survival of the renal medullary cells. Using both TonEBP knockout cells and RNA interference of TonEBP, we found that TonEBP promoted cellular adaptation to hypertonic stress. Microarray analyses revealed that the genetic response to hypertonicity was dominated by TonEBP in that expression of totally different sets of genes was increased by hypertonicity in those cells with TonEBP vs. those

SUBMITTER: Lee SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3064130 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature