Fig. 7: Corisin induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in podocytes and renal tubular epithelial cells.

A–D Normal human primary podocytes or primary renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (RPTEC) were cultured for 48 h under conditions without corisin (medium containing 0.5% recombinant human albumin) and with corisin at concentrations of 20 and 40 µg/mL, dissolved in 0.5% recombinant human albumin, or 40 µg/mL of corisin with anti-corisin antibody. Subsequently, cells were stained with Phalloidin-iFluor™ 488 and 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Fluorescence intensity of F-actin and cell counts were quantified using ImageJ, a public domain software from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). n = 4 in experiments using podocytes and n = 6 in experiments using RPTEC. Scale bars indicate 20 µm. Data are expressed as the mean intensity per cell ratio ± SD. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA followed by the Newman-Keuls test; all tests were two-sided. E, F Cells were cultured under the same conditions to collect total RNA from each treatment group and assess the mRNA expression of α-smooth muscle actin (ACTA2), fibronectin (FN1), collagen I (COL1a1), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGFB1). n = 5 in (E) and n = 6 in (F). Normally distributed data are presented as mean ± SD, while skewed data are expressed as the median with interquartile range. Statistical significance was assessed using ANOVA, followed by the Newman-Keuls or Dunn’s test; all tests were two-sided. The source data are available in the Source Data file.