Expression of nestin after renal transplantation in the rat

Abstract

Chronic allograft injury (CAI) limits the long-term success of renal transplantation. Nestin is a marker of progenitor cells, which probably contribute to its pathogenesis. We hypothesize that nestin is induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury and acute rejection, main risk factors for CAI. Syngeneic renal transplantation was performed in Lewis rats and allogeneic transplantation in the Fischer 344 to Lewis strain combination, which results in reversible acute rejection and in CAI in the long-run. The Dark Agouti to Lewis rat strain combination was used to study fatal acute rejection. In untreated kidneys, nestin immunoreactivity was detected in glomeruli and in very few interstitial or microvascular cells. Syngeneic transplantation induced nestin expression within 4 days, which decreased until day 9 and returned to control levels on day 42. Nestin expression was strong during acute rejection and still detected during the pathogenesis of CAI on day 42. Nestin-positive cells were identified as endothelial cells and interstitial fibroblast-like cells co-expressing alpha-smooth muscle actin. A sub-population of them expressed proliferating cell nuclear antigen. In conclusion, nestin is induced in renal grafts by ischemia/reperfusion injury and acute rejection. It is expressed by proliferating myofibroblasts and endothelial cells and probably contributes to the pathogenesis of CAI.

Tannic Acid Improves Renal Function Recovery after Renal Warm Ischemia–Reperfusion in a Rat Model

“…In this regard, Lewis are known as particularly syngeneic and are able to minimize the effects of immune rejection related to transplantation. On the other hand, in warm ischemic protocol, we choose Sprague-Dawley rats because of their sensitivity to renal warm ischemia, allowing 7 d survival [15,[24][25][26][27][28]. Taken together, these results suggest that the protective mechanism of tannic acid could be efficient in warm ischemia and limited during cold ischemia-reperfusion.…”