Murine Models of Renal Fibrosis

Wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory. All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with national and international animal care and ethical guidelines and have been approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of the University of Connecticut Health Center. Mice were housed in groups of 3-5 littermates in a temperature-controlled environment with 12/12 h light/dark cycle and ad libitum access to food and water. Male mice at 8-10 weeks of age, weighing 20-30 grams were used in the study. In the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model, mice were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine and xylazine. Through a flank incision, the left ureter was exposed and ligated at two points using fine suture material (4-0 silk) as previously described (15 (link)). In the folic acid-induced nephropathy model, WT mice were administrated intraperitoneally with folic acid (Sigma) at 250 mg/kg dissolved in 0.3 mM sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Control mice were injected with equal volume of 0.3 mM NaHCO3 (16 (link)). These in vivo experimental models in mice replicates aspects of the human renal fibrosis (3 (link)). A randomization of animals was carried out to generate groups of equal size. The investigators responsible for data analysis were blind to the study groups.