Fig. 1: Asparaginyl endopeptidase (AEP) was upregulated in podocytes under diabetic conditions in vivo and in vitro.

Representative western blot (A) and summarized data (B) showing AEP protein levels in the kidney cortex of control (Ctrl) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic nephropathy (DN). N = 6–9. C AEP (green) colocalization with Synaptopodin (red) in the glomeruli of control mice and DN mice, db/m mice, and db/db mice. Scale bar: 25 μm. Representative western blot (D) and summarized data (E) showing AEP protein levels in human podocytes (HPCs) treated with high glucose (HG) (final concentration 30 mmol/L), and AGE (100 μg/mL), TGF-β1 (5 ng/mL). N = 5–6. *P < 0.05, data were represented as mean ± SEM.