Proteomics Study of Saikosaponin on Nephrotoxic Serum-Induced Mouse Nephritis

Glomerulonephritis can be caused by autoimmune disorders, which will lead to end-stage renal disease. Our preliminary study showed that the concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and D-lactate increased significantly in nephrotoxic serum-induced mouse glomerulonephritis. On the other hand, it is reported that saikosaponin D has protection effect on nephritis. In this study, we will induce mouse glomerulonephritis by nephrotoxic serum injection (200 μL) via tail vein in order to evaluate the renal protection effects of saikosaponin D. Proteomic study of the kidney tissue will be performed by using fluorescent high-performance liquid phase chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (FD-LC-MS/MS) method to understand the role and the relationship between saikosaponin D and the glomerulonephritis. Then the proteomics study of blood and urine samples will be investigated for clinical application. In the first year, the effect of saikosaponin D on methylglyoxal, D-lactate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, urinary enzymes NAG, urine protein content and renal biopsy of glomerulonephritis induced kidney damage will be studied. In the second year, the differential proteomics of glomerulonephritis and saikosaponin D treatment group will be investigated, and the proteins will be confirmed by western blot. In the third year, the imaging mass spectrometry will be performed to find out the tissue localization of proteins related to glomerulonephritis and saikosaponin D treatment. These results will be beneficial to establish the early detection of glomerulonephritis and the possible mechanism of saikosaponin D on glomerulonephritis.