A novel vertebrate model of diabetic nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). The kidney damage caused by DM includes podocyte loss, proteinuria, mesangial matrix expansion, and other pathological alterations in the glomeruli and tubulointerstitial tissues. However, the pathogenic mechanism of DN is still elusive. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative imbalance have recently been proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of DN. The goal of this project is to establish a new zebrafish model of diabetic nephropathy, which would allow for in vivo observation of oxidative status through fluorescent biosensor and potentially for future study of pathomechanism and therapy of diabetic nephropathy. We will examine the kidney phenotype of a number of models of hyperglycemia in zebrafish by histological analyses and the functional assay for renal glomeruli that we have previously established. We will also examine the metabolism of zebrafish kidney in these models and compare to that of other animal models of diabetes. In addition, we will establish a transgenic zebrafish model expressing a redox biosensor in kidney and use this new tool to evaluate oxidative status in vivo in the hyperglycemia models. The outcome of this project will determine whether the zebrafish model is suitable to be used for DN studies in the future.

Curation Flag Information