Tissue Transglutaminase and the Progression of Human Renal Scarring

T. S. Johnson
2003 Journal of the American Society of Nephrology  
Experimental renal scarring indicates that tissue transglutaminase (tTg) may be associated with the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM), both indirectly via TGF-␤1 activation and directly by the formation of ⑀(␥-glutamyl) lysine dipeptide bonds within the ECM. The latter potentially accelerates deposition and confers the ECM with resistance to proteolytic digestion. Studied were 136 human renal biopsy samples from a range of chronic renal diseases (CRD) to determine changes in tTg and
more » ... -glutamyl) lysine crosslinking. Immunofluorescence for insoluble tTg showed a 14-fold increase in the kidneys of CRD patients (5.3 Ϯ 0.5 versus 76 Ϯ 54 mV/cm 2 ), which was shown to be active by a similar 11-fold increase in the ⑀(␥-glutamyl) lysine crosslink (1.8 Ϯ Figure 6 . Correlation plots revealing an exceptionally high level of correlation with insoluble tTg and ⑀-(␥-glutamyl) lysine.
doi:10.1097/01.asn.0000079614.63463.dd pmid:12874459 fatcat:hfrd3zm6djbvzo5n5vkeanwuja