Figure 1.

Effect of megalin knockout (KO) on Agt and Ang II in the kidney without podocyte injury. Inactivation of the megalin gene was confirmed by RT-PCR (A) and immunohistochemistry (B, top). Both megalin control (Cont) and megalin KO mice showed normal renal histology (B, middle). While Agt protein was stained in a granular pattern in the S1 and S2 segments of the proximal tubule of megalin Cont mice, Agt staining was undetectable in megalin KO mice (B, bottom). Urinary Agt excretion was markedly increased in megalin KO mice (C). There was no significant difference in renal Ang II between megalin Cont and KO mice (D). Horizontal bars represent geometric means in A and C and arithmetic means in B.