Primary and secondary genetic responses after folic acid-induced acute renal injury in the mouse.

Folic acid-induced acute renal injury results in dramatic changes in gene expression. Among the genes affected by folic acid treatment are the primary response genes, c-fos and c-myc, which are thought to function to initiate cell cycle events. In this report, changes in the expression of three other genes in response to folic acid injury have been investigated: ornithine decarboxylase, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and sulfated glycoprotein-2 (SGP-2). Renal injury was found to cause a rapid decrease in EGF mRNA, which remained absent for several days after the initial injury, gradually returning to normal levels over an approximately 3-wk regeneration and recovery period. Ornithine decarboxylase mRNA showed a similar decrease. In contrast, folic acid caused a rapid increase in SGP-2 mRNA, which peaked several days after treatment, decreasing to normal levels over the 3-wk period. The mRNAs for the primary response genes were superinduced in the injured kidneys in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. In contrast, the changes in EGF and SGP-2 mRNA levels were blocked by cycloheximide, indicating that these responses required new protein synthesis during the first few hours after folic acid injury. The opposite but parallel responses in the expression of the EGF and SGP-2 genes suggest that their regulation is coupled to the initial injury-induced dedifferentiation and subsequent return to the fully differentiated state.