{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T19:00:51Z","timestamp":1785438051158,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784160000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004488","name":"Croatian Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["IP-2022-10-8720"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-2022-10-8720"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004488","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["IP-2022-10-8720"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-2022-10-8720"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03n51vw80","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0507etz14","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["IP-UNIST-33"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-UNIST-33"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["IP-UNIST-33"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IP-UNIST-33"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/019w4f821","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The aim of this study was to determine the temporal expression patterns of syndecan family members (SDC1, SDC2, SDC4) and heparan sulfate biosynthesis enzymes (NDST1, NDST2) in kidneys of diabetic rats and age-matched controls. Methods: Male Sprague\u2013Dawley rats received intraperitoneal streptozotocin (55 mg\/kg; DM1 group) or citrate buffer (control group). Kidney samples were harvested after 2 weeks and 2 months and processed for immunofluorescence. Results: SDC1 showed significant temporal upregulation in controls that was abolished in diabetic animals. SDC2 exhibited high early expression in the control group with significant decline as the kidneys matured but remained elevated in diabetic kidneys at 2 months compared to controls. SDC4 showed no significant difference between groups, though an age-related decrease was observed in controls. NDST1 was significantly upregulated in diabetic rats at 2 weeks, followed by profound suppression at 2 months (p &lt; 0.0001). NDST2 showed modest but significant early elevation in diabetic animals. Transcript-level analysis of two independent public datasets of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat renal cortex reproduced the principal directional findings\u2014an early increase in SDC1 and a progressive elevation of SDC2\u2014while indicating post-transcriptional regulation of SDC4 and the early NDST response. Conclusions: Diabetes disrupts normal temporal expression of syndecans and heparan sulfate biosynthesis enzymes in rat kidneys. Early compensatory upregulation of NDST1 and NDST2, followed by progressive NDST1 suppression, suggests a deteriorating heparan sulfate biosynthetic capacity, potentially contributing to the progression of diabetic nephropathy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells15141277","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T09:23:14Z","timestamp":1784193794000},"page":"1277","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Changes in Expression of Syndecans and Heparan Sulfate Biosynthesis Enzymes in Short-Term Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rat Kidneys"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3393-2352","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tanja","family":"\u010cuji\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anita","family":"Racetin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8943-4109","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Natalija","family":"Filipovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6389-5604","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra","family":"Kosti\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6529-5474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nela","family":"Kelam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-6953-0135","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Petar","family":"Todorovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2182-2890","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katarina","family":"Vukojevi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"},{"name":"Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia"},{"name":"Center for Translational Research in Biomedicine, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diabres.2021.109119","article-title":"IDF Diabetes Atlas: Global, regional and country-level diabetes prevalence estimates for 2021 and projections for 2045","volume":"183","author":"Sun","year":"2022","journal-title":"Diabetes Res. 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