mRNA differential display analysis of nephrotic kidney glomeruli

Background: Differential display RT-PCR (DDRT-PCR) is a new powerful techni que for identification and characterization of altered gene expression in e ukaryotic cells and tissues. We studied here changes in kidney glomerular g ene expression in patients with congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnis h type (CNF), an inherited kidney disease with heavy proteinuria already in utero, Methods: Using the DDRT-PCR approach and isolated glomeruli from re moved human kidneys, we compared the gene expression patterns of normal hum an and CNF glomeruli. Differential expression of candidate genes was verifi ed by Northern blotting, and the corresponding PCR fragments were sequenced and compared to known sequences in databanks, Results: We found several ge nes and sequence tags with altered expression in nephrotic glomeruli includ ing fragments with close homologies to cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, inte grin-linked kinase, insulin-like growth factor II receptor and eotaxin, and also clones resembling anchyrin and cadherin-like consensus sequences, Con clusion: All the sequences identified are of interest in respect to pathoge nesis of proteinuria, Furthermore, this study reveals potentially new membe rs to known gene families with tissue and cell type-specific expression.