Journal: Journal of Advanced Research

Article Title: Podocyte TLR4 deletion alleviates diabetic kidney disease through prohibiting PKCδ/SHP-1-dependent ER stress and relieving podocyte damage and inflammation

doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2025.07.013

Figure Lengend Snippet: Blockade of TLR4/MyD88/PKCδ/SHP-1 signaling attenuated podocyte cytoskeletal remodeling and inflammation, and macrophage recruitment and infiltration through decreasing ER stress and MCP-1 production under hyperglycemic conditions. (A) Assessment of podocyte migration by transwell assay in cultured podocytes treated with LG or HG for 48 h with or without transfection of TLR4, PKCδ, MCP-1 or scrambled shRNAs, or pretreatment of 4-PBA. P values were determined by one-way ANOVA and data are presented as mean ± SD. **** P < 0.01; ## P < 0.01; ### P < 0.01; #### P < 0.01 ( n = 3 independent experiments). (B) Representative IF images by phalloidin staining to illustrate F-actin distribution and cytoskeletal remodeling in cultured podocytes treated with LG or HG for 48 h with or without transfection of TLR4, PKCδ, MCP-1 or scrambled shRNAs, or pretreatment of 4-PBA. Magnification 400 × . ( n = 3 independent experiments). (C) Assessment of the secretion of inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-1β in podocytes treated with LG or HG for 48 h with or without transfection of TLR4, PKCδ, or scrambled shRNAs, or pretreatment of 4-PBA. P values were determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test and data are presented as mean ± SD. **** P < 0.01; # P < 0.05; ## P < 0.01; ### P < 0.01 ( n = 3 independent experiments). (D) IHC staining using anti-f4/80 antibodies to illustrate macrophage infiltration in the glomeruli from mice at 16 weeks (Red arrow). Scale bar, 20 μm. ( n = 8) (E) The model diaphragm of podocyte-macrophage co-culture. (F) Representative images and assessment of macrophage migration by transwell assay after co-cultured with podocytes treated with LG or HG for 48 h with or without transfection of TLR4, PKCδ, MCP-1 or scrambled shRNAs, or pretreatment of 4-PBA. Magnification 400 × . P values were determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test and data are presented as mean ± SD. **** P < 0.01; ## P < 0.01; ### P < 0.01 ( n = 3 independent experiments).

Article Snippet: For co-culture of podocytes and macrophages, raw264.7 cells were co-cultured using a transwell chamber (TCS003024, Jet Biofil, Guangzhou, China).

Techniques: Migration, Transwell Assay, Cell Culture, Transfection, Staining, Immunohistochemistry, Co-Culture Assay