Phosphotriesterase-related protein sensed albuminuria and conferred renal tubular cell activation in membranous nephropathy

Background: membranous nephropathy (mn) is a common cause of nephrotic syndrome that may progress to end-stage renal disease (esrd). the formation of mn involves the in situ formation of subepithelial immune deposits and leads to albuminuria; however,the underlying mechanism of how mn leads to esrd remains unclear. the aim of this study was to investigate the expression and biological functions of phosphotriesterase-related protein (pter) in mn. results: in the progression of mn,the expression of pter increased significantly and was mainly expressed in the renal tubular cells. both mrna and protein expression levels of pter were increased in a concentration- and time-dependent manner in the in vitro albuminuria tubular cell model. silencing the expression of pter by rna interference diminished albuminuria-induced inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines production. conclusions: our findings reveal that pter may sense albuminuria in the progression of mn,induce tubular cell activation and lead to esrd. © 2014 cheng et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.