Padideh Kamali-Zare

Mechanical properties of primary cilia regulate the response to fluid flow

The primary cilium is a ubiquitous organelle present on most mammalian cells. Malfunction of the organelle has been associated with various pathological disorders, many of which lead to cystic disorders in liver, pancreas, and kidney. Primary cilia have in kidney epithelial cells been observed to generate intracellular calcium in response to fluid flow, and disruption of proteins involved in this calcium signaling lead to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, implying a direct connection between calcium signaling and cyst formation. It has also been shown that there is a significant lag between the onset of flow and initiation of the calcium signal. The present study focuses on the mechanics of cilium bending and the resulting calcium signal. Visualization of real-time cilium movements in response to different types of applied flow showed that the bending is fast compared with the initiation of calcium increase. Mathematical modeling of cilium and surrounding membrane was performed to deduce the relation between bending and membrane stress. The results showed a delay in stress buildup that was similar to the delay in calcium signal. Our results thus indicate that the delay in calcium response upon cilia bending is caused by mechanical properties of the cell membrane.

Ouabain protects against adverse developmental programming of the kidney

The kidney is extraordinarily sensitive to adverse fetal programming. Malnutrition, the most common form of developmental challenge, retards the formation of functional units, the nephrons. The resulting low nephron endowment increases susceptibility to renal injury and disease. Using explanted rat embryonic kidneys, we found that ouabain, the Na,K-ATPase ligand, triggers a calcium–nuclear factor-κB signal, which protects kidney development from adverse effects of malnutrition. To mimic malnutrition, kidneys were serum deprived for 24 h. This resulted in severe retardation of nephron formation and a robust increase in apoptosis. In ouabain-exposed kidneys, no adverse effects of serum deprivation were observed. Proof of principle that ouabain rescues development of embryonic kidneys exposed to malnutrition was obtained from studies on pregnant rats given a low-protein diet and treated with ouabain or vehicle throughout pregnancy. Thus, we have identified a survival signal and a feasible therapeutic tool to prevent adverse programming of kidney development.

Intraparticle transport and release of dextran in silica spheres with cylindrical mesopores

The transport of oligomeric molecules in silica spheres with cylindrical mesopores has been quantified and related to the structural features of the spherical particles and the interactions at the solid-liquid interface. An emulsion-solvent evaporation method was used to produce silica spheres having cylindrical mesopores with an average pore diameter of 6.5 nm. The transport of dextran molecules (fluorescently tagged) with molecular weights of 3000 and 10,000 g/mol was quantified using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The intraparticle concentration profiles in the dextran-containing spheres were flat at all times, suggesting that the release is not isotropic and not limited by diffusion. The release of dextran into the solution is characterized by an initial burst, followed by long-term sustained release. The release follows a logarithmic time dependency, which was rationalized by coupling concentration-dependent effective diffusion constants with adsorption/desorption.