Development of a zebrafish model for diabetic nephropathy and the identification of the therapeutic target genes

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K08240
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 53040:Nephrology-related
• Research Institution: Mie University
• Principal Investigator: Zang Liqing 三重大学, 地域イノベーション学研究科, 助教 (10437105)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 島田 康人 三重大学, 医学系研究科, 講師 (40378427) ; 齊藤 成 藤田医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (10456444)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 糖尿病性腎症 / ２型糖尿病 / ゼブラフィッシュ / モデル動物 / メカニズム解析 / 治療標的遺伝子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Diabetic nephropathy is the major causative disorder of end-stage renal disease and affects the prognosis of patients with type 2 diabetes. It is essential to clarify the underlying molecular mechanism of the onset of this disease and identify the therapeutic target genes. This study successfully developed a type 2 diabetic nephropathy model using zebrafish. The characteristics of this model include persistent hyperglycemia, continuously leaking proteinuria, and renal glomerular lesions. To our knowledge, this is the first time to create a diabetic nephropathy model in zebrafish. Furthermore, we performed transcriptome analysis by RNA-seq. As the results, candidate genes related to the onset of diabetic nephropathy and therapeutic target genes were identified.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

糖尿病性腎症は、高血糖状態の長期化により引き起こされる2型糖尿病の合併症であり、末期腎不全患者の生命予後を左右するが、現時点では完治することができない。本研究は2型糖尿病性腎症ゼブラフィッシュモデルの構築が成功し、糖尿病性腎症の発症及び治癒関連遺伝子候補群を同定した。ヒト腎疾患新規治療法・ゲノム創薬のツールとしてのターゲットを提案し、将来の慢性腎疾患に対する治療薬の開発に向けての貢献が期待できる。