Title Page

Abstract

Contents

List of Abbreviations 8

Introduction 9

Materials and Methods 11

Results 19

Discussion 24

Reference 40

국문 초록 44

Figure 1. A schematic overview of the animal model. 28

Figure 2. Periostin and tenascin C levels measured in urine in patients with diabetic nephropathy. 29

Figure 3. Functional data of the mouse groups. 30

Figure 4. Analysis of data related to fibrosis among the groups of mice. 33

Figure 5. The effect of periostin deficiency on the TGF-β1/Smad pathway in a diabetic nephropathy model. 35

Figure 6. TGF-β and periostin-induced fibrosis in NRK-49 cells. 36

Figure 7. The role of POSTN in pancreatic function. 38