Comparisons of gene expression profiles in kidney tissues at P22 and P30 in PKD and WT mice revealed that arginine metabolism was significantly activated; 204 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including <i>Arg1</i>, an arginine metabolism-associated gene, were identified in late-stage polycystic kidneys.
To overcome this problem, we previously demonstrated that folate-conjugated rapamycin (FC-rapa) targets polycystic kidneys due to the high expression of the folate receptor (FRα) and that treatment of a nonortholgous PKD mouse model leads to inhibition of renal cyst growth.
Microarray expression analysis of kidneys from 30-day-old PCK rats revealed increased expression of genes previously identified in PKD renal expression profiles, such as inflammatory response, extracellular matrix synthesis, and cell proliferation genes among others, whereas the FHH.Pkhd1 did not show activation of these common markers of disease.