Activated pericytes and the inhibition of renal vascular stability: obstacles for kidney repair

Cellular and molecular pathways of renal repair after acute kidney injury

The acutely injured mammalian kidney mounts a cellular and molecular response to repair itself. However, in patchy regions such intrinsic processes are impaired and dysregulated leading to chronic kidney disease. Currently, no therapy exists to treat established acute kidney injury per se. Strategies to augment human endogenous repair processes and retard associated profibrotic responses are urgently required. Recent studies have identified injury-induced activation of the intrinsic molecular driver of epithelial regeneration and induction of partial epithelial to the mesenchymal state, respectively. Activation of key developmental transcription factors drive such processes; however, whether these recruit comparable gene regulatory networks with target genes similar to those in nephrogenesis is unclear. Extensive complex molecular cross-talk between the nephron epithelia and immune, interstitial, and endothelial cells regulate renal recovery. In vitro-based M1/M2 macrophage subtypes have been increasingly linked to renal repair; however, the precise contribution of in vivo macrophage plasticity to repair responses is poorly understood. Endothelial cell-pericyte intimacy, balance of the angiocrine/antiangiocrine system, and endothelial cell-regulated inflammatory processes have an impact on renal recovery and fibrosis. Close scrutiny of cellular and molecular pathways in repairing human kidneys is imperative for the identification of promising therapeutic targets and biomarker of human renal repair processes.

Cell-specific translational profiling in acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) promotes an abrupt loss of kidney function that results in substantial morbidity and mortality. Considerable effort has gone toward identification of diagnostic biomarkers and analysis of AKI-associated molecular events; however, most studies have adopted organ-wide approaches and have not elucidated the interplay among different cell types involved in AKI pathophysiology. To better characterize AKI-associated molecular and cellular events, we developed a mouse line that enables the identification of translational profiles in specific cell types. This strategy relies on CRE recombinase-dependent activation of an EGFP-tagged L10a ribosomal protein subunit, which allows translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) of mRNA populations in CRE-expressing cells. Combining this mouse line with cell type-specific CRE-driver lines, we identified distinct cellular responses in an ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) model of AKI. Twenty-four hours following IRI, distinct translational signatures were identified in the nephron, kidney interstitial cell populations, vascular endothelium, and macrophages/monocytes. Furthermore, TRAP captured known IRI-associated markers, validating this approach. Biological function annotation, canonical pathway analysis, and in situ analysis of identified response genes provided insight into cell-specific injury signatures. Our study provides a deep, cell-based view of early injury-associated molecular events in AKI and documents a versatile, genetic tool to monitor cell-specific and temporal-specific biological processes in disease modeling.

Activation of pericytes: recent insights into kidney fibrosis and microvascular rarefaction

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Pathological deposition of fibrous matrix in organs is a major problem and contributes to as many as 45% of all natural deaths. Chronic kidney disease affects 8% of the US population, and is characterized by fibrotic processes. It frequently progresses to organ failure and is a major cause of cardiovascular death; yet it lacks therapies. Understanding the pathological mechanisms of fibrosis in the kidney and other organs is central to the development of new therapeutics.

RECENT FINDINGS

Pericytes are mesenchymal cells that partially cover capillary walls. Pericytes play critical roles in micro-vessel formation, maturation and stability. New genetic fate-mapping studies have identified pericytes and the closely related resident fibroblasts as the major progenitors of scar-forming myofibroblasts in multiple organs including the kidney, appearing in response to tissue injury. When pericytes become myofibroblasts they lose pericyte functions. Capillaries become unstable with deleterious consequences for the kidney. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning these processes are starting to unravel, leading to new therapeutics for chronic fibrosing diseases of the kidney and potentially other organs.

SUMMARY

This review focuses on pericytes in the kidney and other organs, their role in fibrogenesis and their role in regulation of the microvasculature.