PP038. Renal ETK/BMX activation decreased in preeclampsia

Introduction Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF’s) are essential to angiogenesis and play a central role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Specifically, antagonists of VEGFR2 cause a preeclampsia-like syndrome, in humans and rats [1] . ETK/BMX is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) which induces VEGF expression and forms a complex with VEGFR2, whereby VEGF and TNF can induce a reciprocal activation of both kinases. Objectives To determine the levels of phosphorylation, and thus activation, of VEGFR2 and ETK/BMX in renal tissue from women with preeclampsia and with healthy pregnancies. Methods Renal tissue was obtained with consent from six preeclamptic and six healthy pregnant women included in a previous renal needle biopsy study [2] and a RayBio® Phosphorylation Antibody Array was used according to instructions. Results Phosphorylated ETK/BMX was significantly reduced in the preeclamptic women compared to in the healthy pregnant women. There was no difference in phosphorylated VEGFR2 between groups. Conclusion These data suggest that ETK/BMX could be an important mediator of VEGF function in healthy pregnancy, in the kidneys more so than VEGFR2, and that absence of the positive feedforward signalling that ETK/BMX and VEGF together accomplish, and/or a TNF induced activation of this, may play a role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.