Fig. 7

Restored kidney tubular mitochondrial dynamics in DKD mice after LST treatment. A: The mitochondrial organization of the CON subset was well-organized when treated with toluidine blue, while DKD subset mitochondria were fragmented and dispersed. The LST subset showed partial recovery in mitochondrial morphology and renal cell integrity. B: Electron microscopy revealed that healthy mice had mostly elongated cylindrical tubular mitochondria. In the DKD subset, about 60% of kidney tubule had fragmented mitochondria. Electron microscope at high magnification revealed that mitochondria in the CON subset were elongated with organized cristae, whereas in diabetic mice, their shape changed to rods or spheres with ruptured membranes and dissolved cristae. These changes were partially reversed by LST treatment. C: Bar-graphs illustrate alterations of mitochondria. D: Western-blot analysis revealed that Drp1, a mitochondrial fission protein, was significantly upregulated in diabetic mice but decreased in the LST subset. Conversely, Mfn2, a protein promoting mitochondrial fusion in kidney tubule, was downregulated in DKD subset but up-regulated with losartan treatment. Results are depicted as mean ± SE, *P < 0.05 vs. CON subset; # P < 0.05 vs. DKD subset. n = 8