Renal tubular apoptosis after partial ureteral obstruction.

Partial ureteral obstruction in the weanling rat leads to hydronephrosis of the ipsilateral kidney and renal cell deletion through the process of programmed cell death known as apoptosis. The apoptotic response following partial ureteral obstruction in weanling Sprague-Dawley rats was studied using the traditional markers of apoptosis, including deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) laddering pattern on agarose gel electrophoresis, in situ gap labeling of fragmented DNA for quantitative apoptotic body determination, polyadenylated messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of sulfated glycoprotein-2, and polyadenylated mRNA expression of epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta. Partial ureteral obstruction resulted in a progressive increase in the intensity of DNA fragmentation associated with apoptosis during the initial 3 weeks. Quantitative apoptotic body counting revealed a 3-fold increase by week 3 of partial obstruction. This increase represented a level of apoptosis, which is 65% of that observed in complete ureteral obstruction. By week 2 of partial obstruction there was a 13-fold increase in the expression of sulfated glycoprotein-2 mRNA, as well as changes in the growth factor environment characterized by a decline in the constitutive expression of epidermal growth factor mRNA and an increase in the expression of transforming growth factor-beta mRNA. These altered levels represent changes in expression comparable to those observed during the apoptotic response following complete ureteral obstruction, although the time course is delayed by 2 to 3 weeks.