UP-REGULATION AND COLOCALIZATION OF CONNEXIN43 AND CELLULAR ADHESION MOLECULES IN INFLAMMATORY RENAL-DISEASE

Connexin43 (Cx43) is a major component of gap junctions. These are wid ely distributed in the human kidney and are thought to be involved in the inflammatory response and in the regulation of cell growth. Cellul ar adhesion molecules (CAMs) are also thought to be important in these processes, where they possibly facilitate gap junction formation. The aims of the current study were to define for the first time the expre ssion of Cx43 in inflammatory glomerulonephritis and to compare the lo calization of this connexin with that of the intercellular adhesion mo lecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and E-s electin. Human renal biopsies and central sections of normal human kid ney were stained using the alkaline phosphataselanti-alkaline phosphat ase immunohistochemical technique, demonstrating that Cx43 was strongl y expressed on inflammatory cells, on damaged tubular cells, and on in terstitial cells. This pattern of expression was paralleled closely by that of ICAM-1 and, to a lesser extent, by that of VCAM-1. Cx43 is th erefore primarily implicated in tubulointerstitial inflammation. (C) 1 997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.