Changes of uPA and PAI-1 Expressions on Cultured Rat Mesangial Cells Transfected with Smad7 cDNA

Purpose To elucidate the mechanism of Smad7 blocking tissue fibrosis by observing uroki-nase-type plasminogen activator(uPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) expressions on cultured rat mesangial cells(MsC) transfected with Smad7 cDNA. Methods Lipofectin method was used to trans-feet Smad7 cDNA into rat MsC, RT-PCR and Western blot analysis for detecting Smad7 mRNA and protein expression level. The expressions of uPA and PAI-1 were also determined by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results Overexpression of Smad7 on two transfected MsC clones (S-22, S-26 ) were successfully established. Two MsC clones showed increased expressions of uPA its mRNA and protein,accompanied with decreased synthesis of its mRNA and PAI-1 protein. Conclusions It is possible that Smad7 can alleviate the development of tissue fibrosis by upregulating the expressions of uPA and decreased synthesis of PAI-1.