Nephrin expression in the post-natal developing kidney in normotensive and hypertensive rats

Nephrin is a slit diaphragm protein and its expression in the developing kidney is largely unknown. In this study, we explored the expression of nephrin in the developmental kidney in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at different time points, from day 5 after birth to adulthood. Real time RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to assess and quantify gene and protein expression of nephrin in the kidney. SHR had hypertension at week 10 and albuminuria at week 20. Nephrin expression in both SHR and WKY increased from day 5 to adulthood. Furthermore, both gene and protein expression of nephrin were significantly lower in SHR after birth when compared to WKY at the same age. These findings suggest that both in normotensive and hypertensive rats, nephrin expression increased from birth to the adult age and that down-regulation of nephrin in SHR evident from the early developmental kidney to adulthood may contribute to the development of albuminuria in adult SHR.