Protective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors in human proximal tubular cells

Effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on gene expression were evaluated in two independent human proximal tubular cell lines using microarray hybridization analysis followed by pathway analysis as well as qPCR- and ELISA-based verification on mRNA and protein level Human renal proximal tubular cells (HK2 and RPTEC/TERT1) were cultured in the respective medium. All cells were grown at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2. After growth to confluency, cells were serum- and supplement starved for 24 hours. Thereafter, cells were treated with either Empagliflozine (500nM), Canagliflozine (500nM) or TGF-beta1 (10ng/ml) for 24 hours in the absence of serum and any other growth supplements. Unstimulated control cells were grown in serum- and supplement-free medium.