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Renal proximal tubular NEMO plays a critical role in ischemic acute kidney injury
Sang Jun Han, … , Marc Schmidt-Supprian, H. Thomas Lee
Sang Jun Han, … , Marc Schmidt-Supprian, H. Thomas Lee
Published September 17, 2020
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2020;5(19):e139246. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.139246.
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Research Article Inflammation

Renal proximal tubular NEMO plays a critical role in ischemic acute kidney injury

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Abstract

We determined that renal proximal tubular (PT) NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO) plays a direct and critical role in ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) using mice lacking renal PT NEMO and by targeted renal PT NEMO inhibition with mesoscale nanoparticle–encapsulated NEMO binding peptide (NBP MNP). We subjected renal PT NEMO–deficient mice, WT mice, and C57BL/6 mice to sham surgery or 30 minutes of renal ischemia and reperfusion (IR). C57BL/6 mice received NBP MNP or empty MNP before renal IR injury. Mice treated with NBP MNP and mice deficient in renal PT NEMO were protected against ischemic AKI, having decreased renal tubular necrosis, inflammation, and apoptosis compared with control MNP-treated or WT mice, respectively. Recombinant peptidylarginine deiminase type 4 (rPAD4) targeted kidney PT NEMO to exacerbate ischemic AKI in that exogenous rPAD4 exacerbated renal IR injury in WT mice but not in renal PT NEMO–deficient mice. Furthermore, rPAD4 upregulated proinflammatory cytokine mRNA and NF-κB activation in freshly isolated renal proximal tubules from WT mice but not from PT NEMO–deficient mice. Taken together, our studies suggest that renal PT NEMO plays a critical role in ischemic AKI by promoting renal tubular inflammation, apoptosis, and necrosis.

Authors

Sang Jun Han, Ryan M. Williams, Mihwa Kim, Daniel A. Heller, Vivette D’Agati, Marc Schmidt-Supprian, H. Thomas Lee

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Figure 3

Kidney PT NEMO deletion or selective tubular delivery of NBP MNP reduces renal tubular necrosis after ischemic AKI.

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Kidney PT NEMO deletion or selective tubular delivery of NBP MNP reduces...
Representative H&E images (×200 original magnification, A and C) and Jablonski renal injury scores assessing the degree of renal tubular necrosis (scale: 0–4, B and D) of kidneys of mice subjected to sham surgery or to 30 minutes renal ischemia and 24 hours reperfusion (×200 original magnification). (A and B) NEMOfl/fl WT mice or renal PT NEMO–deficient mice subjected to sham surgery or renal IR (N = 5). (C and D) C57BL/6 mice injected with control MNP or with 19 or 38 mg/kg NBP MNP 6 hours before sham surgery or renal IR (N = 5). Severe tubular necrosis and proteinaceous casts (*) are indicated in H&E images. Scale bar: 200 μm. *P < 0.05 versus WT mice or control MNP-injected mice subjected to renal IR. Error bars represent 1 SEM. For statistical analysis, the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test was used to detect significant changes.

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