comparative proteomics study of streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy in rats’ kidneys transfected with adenovirus-mediated fibromodulin gene

background: transforming growth factor-beta (tgf-β) activation appears to be crucial for tissue injury in diabetic nephropathy (dn). fibromodulin, the small leucine-rich proteoglycan, has been proposed to be the potent tgf-β modulator. in this study, the therapeutic effects of fibromodulin in the kidneys of streptozotocin (stz)-induced diabetic rats were investigated. methods: diabetic rats received intraperitoneal (ip) injections of recombinant adenovirus expression vectors (rad5) containing fibromodulin (rad-fmod) and were killed after 10 weeks. proteins were isolated from the rat kidney and separated using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. the differentially expressed proteins were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (maldi-tof-ms). results: ten spots were identified using maldi-tof-ms. the identified proteins were primarily responsible for cell metabolism, cytoskeleton formation, and oxidative stress. rad-fmod treatment markedly attenuated the albuminuria in diabetic rats. conclusion: taken together, these results provide a valuable clue in exploring the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of fibromodulin in diabetic nephropathy suggesting that it can be a potential agent in the treatment of this disease.