Zhong Nan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban 2021 Nov;46(11):1177-1186
Department of Endorcrinology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Objectives: High fat-induced podocyte injury is one of the important factors leading to obesity related nephropathy (ORG), but the mechanism is not clear. This study aims to explore the mechanism of period circadian clock 3 (PER3) in the oxidative stress and inflammation induced by palmitic acid (PA) in podocytes.
Methods: The C57BL/6J mice were fed with chow and high-fat diet for 16 weeks. The PER3 expression in kidney tissues were detected in the normal body weight group and the obesity group. The PER3 mRNA and protein expression were detected after the podocytes were induced with different concentrations (0, 50, 150 and 300 μmol/L) of PA for 48 h. The PER3 mRNA and protein expression were detected after the podocytes were induced with 150 μmol/L PA for 0, 24, 36, and 48 h. Triglyceride (TG) levels were examined in the PA group, the adenovirus (ad)-PER3+PA group, and the siRNA-PER+PA group after the podocytes were transfected by Ad-PER3 or small interfering RNA (siRNA)-PER3 for 48 h and subsequently were induced with 150 μmol/L PA for 48 h. The differential gene expression was detected using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) after podocytes were transfected by siRNA-PER3 (siRNA-PER3 group) and siRNA-control (siRNA-control group), respectively. The mRNA levels of nephrin, podocin, podocalyxin, podoplanin, superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1), catalase (CAT), and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) were detected after podocytes were transfected with Ad-PER3 or Ad-control for 48 h and then they were induced by 150 μmol/L PA for 48 h.
Results: The PER3 was down-regulated in the obesity group compared with the normal body weight group (<0.05), and the PER3 was significantly down-regulated after the podocytes were treated with 150 μmol/L for 48 h compared with 0, 24, and 36 h (all <0.01). The TG contents were significantly decreased in the Ad-PER3+PA group compared with the PA group (<0.05). On the contrary, TG contents were increased in the siRNA-PER3+PA group compared with the PA group (<0.05). The RNA-seq results showed that: compared with the siRNA-control group, the differential genes in the siRNA-PER3 group were enriched in different pathways including oxidative phosphorylation, TNF signaling pathway, extracellular matrix receptor interaction, fatty acid metabolism, and fatty acid degradation (all <0.05). The podocyte marker genes (nephrin, podocin, podocalyxin and podoplanin), oxidative stress (SOD1, GPX1, CAT and GSH), and inflammation factors (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β and IL-2) were significantly down-regulated in the Ad-PER3+PA group compared with the PA group (all <0.05).
Conclusions: PER3 can decrease the PA-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory factor secretion via inhibiting the lipogenesis in podocytes.