IL-17 Receptor Signaling Negatively Regulates the Development of Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis in the Kidney

Figure 4

Diminished ECM protein degradation and not synthesis in the kidney of mice deficient in IL-17RA signaling. UUO was performed in WT and Il17ra^−/− mice (–12). At day 7 p.i., (a) the frozen kidney sections were assessed for collagen I and collagen III deposition by immunofluorescence staining. (b) UUO and non-UUO kidneys were evaluated for mRNA expression of Col1a1 and Col3a1 by qPCR. (c) Frequency of αSMA⁺ cells was evaluated by immunofluorescence staining. Photomicrographs are representative of 2 independent experiments for (a) and (c). Original magnification: 10x for (a) and (c). (d) Kidneys were evaluated for αSMA mRNA expression by qPCR. Single-cell suspension from the perfused kidneys was subjected to flow cytometry analysis to determine the percentages of kidney infiltrating (e) neutrophils and (f) macrophages (gated on CD45⁺ cells). In the scattered plots, each dot represents individual mouse and error bars indicate . The data are pooled from three independent experiments for (a–d) and (g) and two independent experiments for (e) and (f). value ≤0.05 (), ≤0.01 (), ≤0.001 (), and ≤0.0001 (). ns: not significant.

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