Growth pattern switch of renal cells and expression of cell cycle related proteins at the early stage of diabetic nephropathy

Renal hypertrophy, partly due to cell proliferation and hypertrophy, has been found correlated to renal function deterioration in diabetes mellitus. We screened the up-regulated cell cycle related genes to investigate cell growth and the expression of cell cycle regulating proteins at the early stage of diabetic nephropathy using STZ-induced diabetic rats. Cyclin E, CDK2 and P27 were found significantly up-regulated in diabetic kidney. Increased cell proliferation in the kidney was seen at day 3, peaked at day 5, and returned to normal level at day 30. Cyclin E and CDK2 expression also peeked at day 5 and P27 activity peaked at day 14. These findings indicate that a hyperplastic growth period of renal cells is followed by a hypertrophic growth period at the early stage of diabetes. The growth pattern switch may be regulated by cell cycle regulating proteins, Cyclin E, CDK2, and P27.