Upregulated DJ-1 Promotes Renal Tubular EMT by Suppressing Cytoplasmic PTEN Expression and Akt Activation / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

ABSTRACT

Recently,phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is suggested as a new agent in the fighting against fibrogenesis.In tumor,DJ-1 is identified as a negative regulator of PTEN.But the expression of DJ-1 and the regulation of PTEN in fibrosis are unclear.Renal fibrosis was induced in 5/6 subtotal nephrectomy rat model.Human proximal tubular epithelial cells (HKC) were treated with transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1),or transfected with DJ-1 or PTEN.Confocal microscope was used to investigate the localization of DJ-1 and PTEN.The selective phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor,LY294002,was administered to inhibit PI3K pathway.The DJ-1 and PTEN expression,markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and Akt phosphorylation were measured by RT-PCR,Western blotting or immunocytochemistry.In vitro,after HKC cells were stimulated with 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 for 72 h,the expression of DJ-1 was increased,and that of PTEN was decreased.In vivo,the same results were identified in 5/6-nephrectomized rats.In normal HKC cells,most of DJ-1 protein localized in cytoplasm,and little in nucleus.TGF-β1 upregulated DJ-1 expression in both cytoplasma and nuclei.In contrary,TGF-β1 emptied cytoplasmic PTEN protein into nucleus.Overexpression of D J-1 decreased the expression of PTEN,promoted the activation of Akt and the expression of vimentin,and also led to the loss of cytoplasmic PTEN.Contrarily,overexpression of PTEN protected HKC cells from TGF-β1-induced EMT.In conclusion,DJ-1 is upregulated in renal fibrosis and DJ-1 mediates EMT by suppressing cytoplasmic PTEN expression and Akt activation.