Semaphorin3a was discovered as a secreted guidance protein that acts as a chemorepellent to migrating axons and endothelial cells. In the adult mouse kidney, it is expressed in podocytes and collecting tubules. Here, we show that exogenous semaphorin3a caused acute nephrotic range proteinuria associated with podocyte foot process effacement and fusion, endothelial cell damage, decreased vascular endothelial growth factor-A receptor expression, and downregulation of the slit-diaphragm proteins podocin, nephrin, and CD2-associated protein. When vascular endothelial growth factor 165 was administered at the same time as Semaphorin3a, no proteinuria or renal ultrastructural abnormalities occurred, suggesting that semaphorin3a effects may be mediated, in part, by downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 signaling. Our findings indicate that a balance of semaphorin3a to vascular endothelial growth factor-A may be important for glomerular filtration barrier homeostasis.

A tightly controlled balance between hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell compartments is required to maintain normal blood cell homeostasis throughout life, and this balance is regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic cellular factors. Cav-1 is a 22-kDa protein that is located in plasma membrane invaginations and is implicated in regulating neural stem cell and embryonic stem cell proliferation. However, the role of Cav-1 in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function is largely unknown. In this study, we used Cav-1(-/-) mice to investigate the role of Cav-1 in HSCs function during aging. The results showed that Cav-1(-/-) mice displayed a decreased percentage of B cells and an increased percentage of M cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood, and these changes were due to an increased number of HSCs. FACS analysis showed that the numbers of Lin(-)Sca1(+)c-kit(+) cells (LSKs), long-term HSCs (LT-HSCs), short-term HSCs and multipotent progenitors were increased in Cav-1(-/-) mice compared with Cav-1(+/+) mice, and this increase became more pronounced with aging. An in vitro clonogenic assay showed that LT-HSCs from Cav-1(-/-) mice had reduced ability to self-renew. Consistently, an in vivo competitive transplantation assay showed that Cav-1(-/-) mice failed to reconstitute hematopoiesis. Moreover, a Cav-1 deletion disrupted the quiescence of LSKs and promoted cell cycle progression through G2/M phase. In addition, we found that Cav-1 deletion impaired the ability of HSCs to differentiate into mature blood cells. Taken together, these data suggest that Cav-1-deficient cells impaired HSCs quiescence and induced environmental alterations, which limited HSCs self-renewal and function.