ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pathology
Solute Carrier Family 1 Member 1 (SLC1A1) in Renal Interstitial Fibrosis: Evaluating Its Influence on Glutamate Uptake and Extracellular Ion Levels
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
- 2Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, China
- 3Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Goal: This research sought to examine the role of solute carrier family 1 member 1 (SLC1A1) in renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF), exploring its relationship with fibrosis extent and its influence on amino acids absorption and ion levels. Approach: Renal tubulointerstitial damage was assessed using tissue microarray analysis combined with HE staining. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify SLC1A1 expression in fibrotic tissues, and its relationship with renal tubulointerstitial damage was examined. Additionally, an in vitro fibrosis model was created using HK-2 cells stimulated by transforming growth factor - β1 (TGF - β1). The levels of SLC1A1 protein were evaluated by immunofluorescence staining, while glutamate uptake capacity and extracellular ion and amino acid levels were monitored. Finding: The expression of SLC1A1 decreases in cases of renal interstitial fibrosis, with a more pronounced reduction as fibrosis worsens. Following 48 hours of exposure to TGF-β1 (15 ng/ml), these alterations became even more apparent. At this 48-hour mark, the glutamate uptake in the experimental group was significantly lower compared to the control group, while the levels of extracellular Na⁺ and Cl⁻ showed a notable increase. Additionally, aspartic acid (ASP) levels rose, whereas glutamic acid (Glu) levels fell , and cysteine (Cys) levels remained unchanged. Conclusion:The downregulation of SLC1A1 during renal interstitial fibrosis is inversely related to the severity of fibrosis and impacts both glutamate uptake and the balance of extracellular ions, indicating its potential as a therapeutic target for enhancing kidney function.
Keywords: Renal interstitial fibrosis, SLC1A1 protein, amino acid transport, Ionconcentration, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lv, Cheng, Luo, Yang, Liu, Huang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chunyan Lv, chuanyan-l@foxmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.