Figure 4

PC2 mediates kidney epithelial mechanotransduction. (A) PC2 localizes to IMCD primary cilia and plasma membrane. Scale bar, 10 μm. (B) Chemiluminescence-detected Western blot of PC2 and actin protein in IMCDs treated with scrambled control siRNA and Pkd2 siRNA. (C) Quantified knockdown of Pkd2 mRNA expression in IMCD cells treated with siRNA relative to controls (n = 4). (D , E) Percent of viable IMCD primary cilia and cytosolic domains exhibiting flow-induced Ca²⁺ increases (n = 9–10). Error bars show ±SEM (*p < 0.05). (F , G) Flow-induced Ca²⁺ increases normalized to baseline value in the primary cilium and cytosolic domains of responsive cells with Pkd2 siRNA-mediated knockdown (primary cilium: untreated (n = 6), Pkd2 (n = 4); cytosol: untreated (n = 4), Pkd2 (n = 1)).