Inhibition of the IRE1/JNK pathway in renal tubular epithelial cells attenuates ferroptosis in acute kidney injury
Yan Liang, Zhenjie Liu, Lingyun Qu, Yingzi Wang, Yali Zhou, Lulu Liang, Yanhong Guo, Lin Tang
Abstract
Backgroud: Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury models. Acute kidney injury (AKI) induced by I/R injury can result in cell death, and subcellular structural changes, including expansion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mitochondrial shrinkage, and other morphological changes. Inositol requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) a proximal ER stress sensor, activates c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNK) in response to ER stress, which is inextricably linked to ER. Method: To determine the resulting damage and relationship between ferroptosis and the IRE1/JNK pathway in AKI, we modeled AKI in I/R renal injury mice and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) HK-2 cells, as in vivo and in vitro experiments, respectively. Results: In I/R renal injury mice, we found that abnormal renal function; damage of renal tubular epithelial cells; activation of the IRE1/JNK pathway and ferroptosis. Our in vitro study showed a large number of reactive oxygen species and more ferroptotic mitochondria in H/R HK-2 cells. By inhibiting IRE1/JNK in I/R renal injury mice, we observed decreased blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and tissue injury, compared with the I/R group, we also found the markers of ferroptosis changed, including decreased 4-hydroxynonenal and increased glutathione peroxidase 4, as well as in H/R induced IRE1/JNK knock-down HK-2 cell lines (stable depletion). Furthermore, inhibition of ferroptosis could also attenuate the IRE1/JNK pathway in mice following I/R and HK-2 cells following H/R. Conclusion: We observed cross-talk between the IRE1/JNK pathway and ferroptosis in I/R or H/R induced AKI. Our findings suggest that ferroptosis plays an important role in I/R induced AKI, and that inhibition of the IRE1/JNK pathway can protect against I/R induced renal injury by inhibiting ferroptosis. The inhibition of the IRE1/JNK pathway could therefore be a feasible therapeutic target for treatment of AKI.