Qiunong Guan
Canada
Review Article
From Humans to Experimental Models: The Cytoprotective Role of Clusterin in the Kidney
Author(s): Qiunong Guan, Hatem A Alnasser, Christopher YC Nguan and Caigan DuQiunong Guan, Hatem A Alnasser, Christopher YC Nguan and Caigan Du
Clusterin (CLU) is a chaperone-like protein and has been discovered more than thirty years ago; however, its biological significance is still not fully understood. This review aims to summarize the principal observations of CLU roles related to the kidney. In humans, three or more mRNA isoforms of CLU could be expressed due to different translation start sites, but only two forms of CLU protein, secreted (sCLU, isoform 2) and nuclear (nCLU, isoform 1), have been well characterized, whereas there is only sCLU form in mice. In the biopsies of renal tissue from patients, up regulated CLU expression has been found in rejecting kidney transplants or diseased kidneys, and a lower level of serum CLU is correlated with many types of kidney disease in patients. In mice, a deficiency in CLU expression specifically leads to the phenotype of age-dependent chronic glomerular injury - moderate to s.. View More»
