Fig. 4: Proximal tubule TβRII deletion impairs mitochondrial quality control.
a Relative Pgc1α mRNA levels in renal cortices from uninjured and AA injured (6 weeks) mice, measured by RT-qPCR using S12 as housekeeping control gene; n = 4 uninjured, 7 injured (Tgfbr2fl/fl) and 4 uninjured, 5 injured (γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/fl) mice, uninjured p = 0.05 and injured p = 0.8152. b, c Representative Pgc1α immunohistochemistry (IHC) images and quantification in uninjured and 6 weeks injured renal cortices; n = 4 uninjured, 7 injured (Tgfbr2fl/fl) and 4 uninjured, 5 injured (γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/fl) mice, uninjured p = 0.0436 and injured p = 0.9983. Scale bars represent 20 μm. d, e Representative endogenous fluorescence images and quantification showing decreased mitophagic flux (mCherry) in γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/WT;mito-QC mice compared to Tgfbr2fl/WT;mito-QC mice 6 weeks after AA injury; n = 3 (Tgfbr2fl/WT;mito-QC) and 4 (γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/WT;mito-QC) mice, p = 0.045. Scale bars represent 20 μm. f–h LC3A (I/II) immunoblotting and quantification showing significant decrease of LC3A-I expression in γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/fl renal cortices 6 weeks after AA injury; n = 5 (Tgfbr2fl/fl) and 5 (γGT-Cre;Tgfbr2fl/fl) mice, p = 0.0001. Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. Statistical significance was determined by unpaired Student’s t test (two groups) or two-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple comparisons test, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. The dots represent the number of animals per group. *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.
