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. 2011 May 23;121(6):2197–2209. doi: 10.1172/JCI44774

Figure 6. mTORC1 hyperactivation is a molecular signature of diabetic nephropathy.

Figure 6

(A) Glomerular gene expression data of microdissected glomeruli from patients with glomerulopathies; very early diabetic nephropathy (diabetes; n = 22), MCD (n = 5), and controls (pretransplant allograft biopsies, LD, n = 18). mTOR/Raptor target gene expression was upregulated in diabetic nephropathy, but not in MCD. (B) Upregulation of pS6 in glomeruli of patients with diabetic nephropathy, but not in patients with MCD (arrows indicate pS6 signal). (C) Quantitative analysis of glomerular pS6-stained area in glomeruli of patients (n = 3 control, n = 5 for diabetes and minimal change; *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.0001). (D) Upregulation of pS6 in podocytes of STZ-induced diabetic mice (arrows indicate podocytes). (E) Quantitative analysis of glomerular pS6-stained area in glomeruli of diabetic mice (n = 3 mice each). (F) Densitometric analysis after Western blotting of pS6 levels in glomerular lysates of control and STZ-injected diabetic mice (n = 4 mice each). Scale bars: 20 μm (B); 5 μm (D). Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM.