Inducible kidney-specific Sgk1 knockout mice show a salt-losing phenotype

The expression of the serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (Sgk1) is induced by mineralocorticoids and, in turn, upregulates the renal epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC). Total inactivation of Sgk1 has been associated with transient urinary Na+ wasting with a low-Na+ diet, while the aldosterone-mediated ENaC channel activation was unchanged in the collecting duct. Since Sgk1 is ubiquitously expressed, we aimed to study the role of renal Sgk1 and generated an inducible kidney-specific knockout (KO) mouse. We took advantage of the previously described TetOn/CreLoxP system, in which rtTA is under the control of the Pax8 promotor, allowing inducible inactivation of the floxed Sgk1 allele in the renal tubules (Sgk1fl/fl/Pax8/LC1 mice). We found that under a standard Na+ diet, renal water and Na+/K+ excretion had a tendency to be higher in doxycycline-treated Sgk1 KO mice compared with control mice. The impaired ability of Sgk1 KO mice to retain Na+ increased significantly with a low-salt diet despite higher plasma aldosterone levels. On a low-Na+ diet, the Sgk1 KO mice were also hyperkaliuric and lost body weight. This phenotype was accompanied by a decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. At the protein level, we observed a reduction in phosphorylation of the ubiquitin protein-ligase Nedd4-2 and a decrease in the expression of the Na+-Cl−-cotransporter (NCC) and to a lesser extent of ENaC.