Advanced glycation end product-induced proliferation in NRK-49F cells is dependent on the JAK2/STAT5 pathway and cyclin D1.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are important in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, which leads to renal fibrosis. Previously, we found that the janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway is necessary for AGE-induced cellular proliferation in normal rat kidney interstitial fibroblast (NRK-49F) cells. However, a direct link between JAK/STAT and cell-cycle progression has not been well established. In this regard, STAT5 has been found to induce cyclin D1 and proliferation in hematopoietic cells. Therefore, we examined effects of AGE on STAT5 and cell-cycle-dependent mitogenesis in NRK-49F cells. We found that AGE increased cyclin D1 expression and cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk)4 activity while decreasing p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression. We also found that AGE (100 microg/mL) induced STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation. Meanwhile, AGE induced STAT5 protein-DNA binding activity, which was reversed by AG-490 (a specific JAK2 inhibitor) and STAT5 decoy oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN). In addition, STAT5 decoy ODN reversed AGE-induced cell-cycle-dependent cellular proliferation and cyclin D1 protein expression. We concluded that AGE induced cell-cycle-dependent cellular proliferation by inducing the JAK2-STAT5-cyclin D1 and cdk4 pathways in NRK-49F cells.