Elucidation of the role of Tcf21 in renal fibrosis

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K09687
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Kidney internal medicine
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Maezawa Yoshiro 千葉大学, 大学院医学研究院, 講師 (80436443)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 竹本 稔 千葉大学, 大学院医学研究院, 特任教授 (60447307)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 腎臓線維化 / 転写因子 / Tcf21

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Tcf21 belongs to the bHLH transcription factor and is expressed in renal podocytes and stromal cells. Examination of podocyte-specific Tcf21 KO and stroma-specific Tcf21 KO mice shows that Tcf21 is important for maintaining the function of podocytes, and that Tcf21 in stromal cells is essential for tubular differentiation during development. On the other hand, since the significance of Tcf21 in renal fibrosis was unclear, we created a renal interstitial fibrosis model such as unilateral ureteral obstruction and intraperitoneal administration of folic acid in mice in which Tcf21 gene deletion was induced after birth. Suppression of fibrosis-related genes was observed in inducible Tcf21 KO, suggesting that Tcf21 acts as a promoter for fibrosis.

Free Research Field

糖尿病、代謝、内分泌内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

高齢化社会の到来に伴い、腎不全を有する患者の頻度が増加している。腎臓の線維化は、糖尿病腎症や慢性糸球体腎炎など多様な腎疾患の共通する増悪機序であり、その機序解明は新規治療法の開発のために重要な課題である。Tcf21は腎臓における線維化のエフェクター転写因子の一つである可能性があり、その下流遺伝子の同定や、Tcf21の転写貴女の解明は、人選以下の制御につながる可能性がある。