Global transcriptomic changes in aged mouse kidney podocytes. Global transcriptomic changes in aged mouse kidney podocytes

Like many cell types, the mechanisms and pathways underlying healthy aged-related changes to podocytes are not fully understood. Candidate pathways include oxidative stress, epigenetic changes, senescence, sirtuins, reduced autophagy and increased apoptosis, although detailed mechanisms underlying each pathway is not well defined. While detailed gene analysis has been undertaken on whole portions of the aging kidney, transcriptomic changes specific to podocytes in the aged kidney are not known. To address this, we used an inducible podocyte specific reporter mouse in which a cohort of podocytes are permanently labeled over the life time of the animal. RNA-seq was then used to measure transcriptional changes in genes in labeled podocytes in mice with advanced age, compared to podocytes from a cohort of young reporter mice. Overall design: We did RNA-seq of aged and young podocytes from male and female mice. Aged female: 5 biological replicates; young female: 4 replicates; aged male: 3 replicates; young male: 4 replicates