Figure 3.

H-E staining of glomeruli and renal tubules in the kidneys of mice injected 6 times with pCAG/DT-A/FuGENE™6 complex (a-i), pCAG/FuGENE™6 complex (j) or PBS(-) only (k) on day 4 (a-g) and weeks 3 (h) and 5 (i). On day 4, proliferation of mesangial cells, which causes loss of Bowman's space [indicated by arrows in (a) and (b)] and attenuation of glomerular capillaries [indicated by arrowheads in (c)] were remarkable. In some cases, findings of cellular degeneration [indicated by arrows in (c) and (e)] and appearance of lobular segmental structure of glomerulus (d-f) were observed. Infiltration of lymphocytes into interstitum and renal tubules [indicated by arrowheads in (g)] was sometimes observed. However, no gross alteration in glomeruli was noted in the groups with injection of pCAG/FuGENE™6 complex (j) and of mock injections with FuGENE™6 only (data not shown) or PBS(-) only (k). On week 3, slight recovery was observed in the mice treated with pCAG/DT-A/FuGENE™6 complex, although debris [indicated by an arrow in (h)] existed in Bowman's space. By week 5, the morphology of glomeruli had almost completely recovered, although proteinaceous substances were often observed in Bowman's space (i). (l), Glomerulus of intact kidney.