Inducible podocyte injury and proteinuria in transgenic zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: Damage or loss of podocytes causes glomerulosclerosis in murine models, and mutations in podocyte-specific genes cause nephrotic syndrome in humans. Zebrafish provide a valuable model for kidney research, but disruption of pronephroi leads to death within a few days, thereby preventing the study of CKD. In this study, we generated an inducible model of podocyte injury in zebrafish (pod::NTR-mCherry) by expressing a bacterial nitroreductase, which converts metronidazole to a cytotoxin, specifically in podocytes under the control of the zebrafish nphs2/podocin promoter. Application of the prodrug metronidazole to the transgenic fish induces acute damage to the podocytes in pronephroi of larval zebrafish and the mesonephroi of adult zebrafish, resulting in foot-process effacement and podocyte

SUBMITTER: Zhou W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3358760 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature