The contribution of mesangial cell proliferation to progressive glomerular injury

Mesangial cell proliferation is a general characteristic of a variety of glomerular diseases. Therefore, an understanding of the regulatory mechanism is important for treatment of glomerular diseases. The present review shows that the growth arrest gene 6 (Gas 6) is a new autocrine growth factor of mesangial cells and that warfarin inhibits mesangial cell proliferation by inhibiting the γ-carboxylation of Gas 6 in vitro and in vivo. The present findings also show that a vitamin D analog (22-oxa-calcitriol) is a new growth regulator of mesangial cells in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicate that these compounds have considerable potential for therapeutic use in the treatment of progressive glomerular disease.

データ元 : http://medical.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp/jmi/