Fra-2 is a novel candidate drug target expressed in the podocytes of lupus nephritis.

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common and devastating complication caused by systemic lupus erythematosus. In this study, we evaluated the expression and mechanism of Fos-related antigen 2 (Fra-2) in LN. The results showed that Fra-2 was significantly increased in kidney biopsies of LN patients compared with healthy controls and other kidney disease in glomerular podocytes. The MRL/lpr mouse strain is a murine model of lupus, and it was used to study the mechanisms of Fra-2 in LN. The results showed that Fra-2 was expressed in the glomerular podocytes. We investigated the effects of inflammatory stimuli on Fra-2 protein expression in the glomerular podocytes, and found that interferon gamma was most effective at increasing Fra-2 protein expression. Knockdown of Fra-2 using siRNA enhanced the protein expression of nephrin. Therefore, Fra-2 may be a specific drug target for podocyte injury in LN.

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