Significance of α-Lipoic acid on cell viability and nephrin in human podocytes under normal and high glucose conditions

Introduction: Human podocytes (hPC) play a pivotal role in maintaining kidney and glomerular function, while chronic kidney disease such as diabetic nephropathy has been characterized by loss or dysfunction of hPC. Nephrin is an important protein in hPCs and was found to maintain integrity and function of the slit diaphragm. Additionally, nephrin phosphorylation mitigates stress in hPC. α-Lipoic acid (α-LA) is a naturally occurring compound, also licensed for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy in Germany. We aimed to investigate whether α-LA affects hPC viability and nephrin expression and/or phosphorylation under normal and high glucose conditions. Methods: Differentiated hPC were cultured under incrementally higher glucose concentrations. Protein expression and phosphorylation were analyzed by Western blotting and cell viability was determined with a functional assay. Results: We saw a significant effect of α-LA on cell viability in hPC under normal and high glucose conditions with different effects on viability and nephrin expression/phosphorylation depending on the glucose environment and α-LA concentration. Discussions/Conclusions: Our data suggest an advantageous effect of α-LA in hPC under pathophysiological glucose conditions and demonstrate a potential mechanism via nephrin phosphorylation.

Author dc:creator

• Gillespie, Allan J.

• Lipoic acid
• Podocyte
• Nephrin
• Viability

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/refubium/rechtliches/Nutzungsbedingungen

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier URI

http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-46299

OAI record oai:identifier

https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Arefubium.fu-berlin.de%3Afub188%2F46585