Fig. 4: KP1 preserves renal functions and ameliorates renal fibrosis in UIRI mice.

a Organ imaging showed that KP1 was preferentially accumulated in the injured kidney after UIRI. Relative levels of FITC-KP1 are shown in major organs. b Schematic diagram of the experimental design. The red line indicates the duration of surgery. The green arrowheads indicate the injections of KP1 (1 mg/kg body weight), whereas white arrowheads denote the injections of vehicle (0.01 M acetic acid). c, d KP1 preserved kidney function in UIRI mice. Serum creatinine (Scr) (c) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (d) levels are shown. P values (from left to right): 0.003, 0.010 (Scr); <0.001, P < 0.001 (BUN). n = 6 biologically independent animals. e Representative micrographs of Masson’s trichrome staining in different groups. Scale bar, 50 µm. Arrow indicates collagens deposition. f Quantitative determination of renal fibrotic lesions. P values (from left to right): <0.001, <0.001. n = 6 biologically independent animals. g Representative micrographs of immunohistochemical staining for fibronectin and α-SMA. Scale bar, 50 µm. h, i Quantitative data of fibronectin and α-SMA positive area in each high-power field. P values (from left to right): <0.001, <0.001 (fibronectin); <0.001, <0.001 (α-SMA). n = 6 biologically independent animals. j Representative Western blot showed renal protein levels of fibronectin, α-SMA, and collagen I in different groups. Numbers (1–3) indicate each individual animal in a given group. k–m Quantitative data of fibronectin (k), α-SMA (l), and collagen I (m) proteins in different groups. P values (from left to right): <0.001, 0.004 (fibronectin); 0.003, 0.045 (α-SMA); 0.001, 0.018 (collagen I). n = 6 biologically independent animals. ^*P < 0.05 versus sham; ^†P < 0.05 vs. UIRI alone. P values were determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s LSD post hoc test (d, f, h, i) or Dunnett’s T3 test (c, k, l, m). Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.