Annexin A1 exerts renoprotective effects in experimental crescentic glomerulonephritis

The glucocorticoid-inducible protein annexin A1 has been shown to function as key-regulator of the resolution phase of inflammation but its role in immune-mediated crescentic glomerulonephritis has not been studied so far. Acute crescentic glomerulonephritis was induced in annexin A1 deficient and wildtype mice using a sheep serum against rat glomerular basement membrane constituents. Alterations in gene expression were determined by RNA-Seq and gene ontology analysis. Intrinsic annexin A1 has a protective effect in reducing pro-inflammatory signals and infiltration of neutrophil granulocytes during crescentic GN. The annexin A1 signaling cascade may therefore provide novel targets for the treatment of inflammatory kidney disease. Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for kidney homogenates from nephritic wildtype and AnxA1 knockout mice.