Fig. 4

Podocyte-specific loss of Sirt6 exacerbates podocyte injury and proteinuria in DN. a UACR (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio) in different groups of mice. b Photomicrographs and quantifications showing typical glomerular structure changes in different groups of mice. Scale bar: black 50 μm, red 25 μm. c Representative photomicrographs and quantifications of mean glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness, mean foot process width, and the number of foot processes in different groups of mice at different age by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. Scale bar, 3 μm. d Representative confocal microscopic images showing the expressions of nephrin and podocin in the kidney from different groups of mice. Scale bar, 25 μm. e Representative confocal microscopic images showing the expressions of uPAR in podocytes from different groups of mice. Scale bar, 25 μm. Podocyte-specific Sirt6 knockout mice: Cre ⁺ /Sirt6 ^fl/fl mice; Mice with two WT alleles and Cre expression (Cre ⁺ /Sirt6 ^+/+) were used as controls. *P < 0.05 vs. control (Cre ⁺ /Sirt6 ^+/+ mice), ^# P < 0.05 vs. Cre ⁺ /Sirt6 ^+/+ STZ mice. (n = 8.) Data are expressed as means ± SE. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-test for multiple comparisons was used for groups of three or more