Sj. Shankland et G. Wolf, Cell cycle regulatory proteins in renal disease: role in hypertrophy, proliferation, and apoptosis, AM J P-REN, 278(4), 2000, pp. F515-F529
The response to glomerular and tubulointerstitial cell injury in most forms
of renal disease includes changes in cell number (proliferation and apopto
sis) and cell size (hyerptrophy). These events typically precede and may be
reponsible for the accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins that lead
s to a decrease in renal function. There is increasing evidence showing tha
t positive (cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases) and negative (cyclin-depe
ndent kinase inhibitors) cell cycle regulatory proteins have a critical rol
e in regulating these fundamental cellular responses to immune and nonimmun
e forms of injury. Data now show that altering specific cell cycle proteins
affects renal cell proliferation and improves renal function. Equally exci
ting is the expanding body of literature showing novel biological roles for
cell cycle proteins in the regulation of cell hypertrophy and apoptosis. W
ith increasing understanding of the role for cell cyle regulatory proteins
in renal disease comes the hope for potential therapeutic inverventions.