Analysis of genes associated with proinflammatory and profibrotic pathways upregulated in ischemia-induced chronic kidney disease in cats.

Abstract

To use RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to characterize renal transcriptional activities of genes associated with proinflammatory and profibrotic pathways in ischemia-induced chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats. Banked renal tissues from 6 cats with experimentally induced CKD (renal ischemia [RI] group) and 9 healthy cats (control group). Transcriptome analysis with RNAseq, followed by gene ontology and cluster analyses, were performed on banked tissue samples of the right kidneys (control kidneys) from cats in the control group and of both kidneys from cats in the RI group, in which unilateral (right) RI had been induced 6 months before the cats were euthanized and the ischemic kidneys (IKs) and contralateral nonischemic kidneys (CNIKs) were harvested. Results for the IKs, CNIKs, and control kidneys were compared to identify potential differentially expressed genes and overrepresented proinflammatory and profibrotic pathways. Genes from the gene ontology pathways of collagen binding (eg, transforming growth factor-β1), metalloendopeptidase activity (eg, metalloproteinase [MMP]-7, MMP-9, MMP-11, MMP-13, MMP-16, MMP-23B, and MMP-28), chemokine activity, and T-cell migration were overrepresented as upregulated in tissue samples of the IKs versus control kidneys. Genes associated with the extracellular matrix (eg, TIMP-1, fibulin-1, secreted phosphoprotein-1, matrix Gla protein, and connective tissue growth factor) were upregulated in tissue samples from both the IKs and CNIKs, compared with tissues from the control kidneys. Unilateral ischemic injury differentially altered gene expression in both kidneys, compared with control kidneys. Fibulin-1, secreted phosphoprotein-1, and matrix Gla protein may be candidate biomarkers of active kidney injury in cats.