Axl and its ligand Gas6 are up-regulated following sub-total nephrectomy and high phosphate diet.

<p>(A) Western blots of kidney lysates for Axl, pAkt, total Akt and α-tubulin; 4 individual animals per group. The groups are Axl+/+ animals at baseline (11 weeks of age), 25 week old Axl+/+ animals with no nephrectomy (age-matched controls; no Nx), and 25 week old Axl+/+ animals that had a sub-total nephrectomy (Nx) at 11 weeks (Nx + phosphate). (B, C) Plasma Gas6 levels determined by ELISA; (B) Gas6 levels by genotype, (C) Gas6 levels by gender. A minimum of 4 animals were analysed per group. Results expressed as individual data points with means +/− Std Dev. Statistical test is a Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's compensation for multiple comparisons, * = p≤0.05, ** = p≤0.01, *** = p≤0.005.</p

Loss of Axl results in elevated renal tubulo-interstitial apoptosis.

<p>(A) Representative TUNEL- and DAPI-stained kidney sections post-sub-total nephrectomy and high phosphate diet. Tubulo-interstitial areas of the kidney are shown, bar  = 50 microns. (B) Quantification of TUNEL staining expressed as mean +/− SEM, n = 10 per group. Statistical test is Student's <i>t</i>-test; ns  =  not significant, * = p≤0.05.</p

Kidney mass pre- and post-surgery.

<p>Kidney mass at baseline and the kidney remnant mass are expressed as a percentage of the animal's weight at these time points. When calculating kidney mass at baseline and the percentage kidney mass removed, total kidney mass was assumed to be twice that of the right kidney upon removal. The n number and standard deviation are in brackets. There is no statistically significant difference between genotypes.</p