Journal
JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 100, Issue 1, Pages 29-33Publisher
JAPANESE PHARMACOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1254/jphs.FMJ05003X6
Keywords
Rho-kinase; renal hemodynamics; fasudil; renal injury; p27(kip1)
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Rho/Rho-kinase plays an important role not only in the vasoconstrictor mechanism but also in cellular morphology, motility, adhesion, and proliferation. This pathway also serves to modulate the structure and function of various kidney cells including tubular epithelial cells, mesangial cells, and podocytes. The inhibition of the Rho/Rho-kinase pathway elicits marked increases in renal blood flow in vivo and dilates both afferent and efferent arterioles preconstricted by angiotensin II in vitro. In renal injury, intrarenal angiotensin II is reported to be activated, which subsequently would upregulate the Rho-kinase pathway. A selective Rho-kinase inhibitor, fasudil, has recently been shown to improve renal damage resulting from hypertensive glomerulosclerosis, unilateral ureteral obstruction (for interstitial renal fibrosis) and subtotal nephrectomy. Of interest, fasudil upregulated the expression of p27(kip1), a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, and increased the p27(kip1) immuno-positive cells in both glomeruli and tubulointerstitium with the use of immunohistochemistry. Collectively, the Rho-kinase pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of renal injury. Clinical application of this type of therapy however awaits further investigations.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available