Localization of Smad6 and Smad7 in the Rat Kidney and Their Regulated Expression in the Anti-Thy-1 Nephritis

Under normal conditions, kidney expresses Smad6 and Smad7 most abundantly among the organs of the body. To understand the physiological roles of these Smad expressions in the kidney, we first identified the sites of Smad6 and Smad7 expression in the rat kidney by in situ hybridization. The expression of Smad7 in the rat kidney was only observed in the glomeruli, while Smad6 was expressed in both the glomeruli and thick ascending limb of Henle's loop. In order to investigate whether Smad6 and 7 are also involved in the negative feedback loop of TGF-β signaling in vivo, we examined the changes of mRNA levels of these Smads in the glomeruli of rat anti-Thy1 (1–22–3) nephritis, a model where the expression of TGF-β in the glomeruli has been shown to be most up-regulated from day 4 to 14 after the antibody injection. Unexpectedly, 7 days after injection, the levels of Smad6 and Smad7 did not increase but rather decreased to ∼70% of the levels on day 0. During that period, Smad7 immunostaining was observed in the glomerular endothelial cells (GEN) where Smad3 immunostaining was also observed. This suggested that Smad7 expression was not augmented by the TGF-β signal in GEN in vivo in anti-Thy-1 nephritis. The absence of up-regulation of these inhibitory Smads may be involved in the pathogenesis of anti-Thy-1 nephritis.