Early peritoneal dialysis reduces lung inflammation in mice with ischemic acute kidney injury.

Although dialysis has been used in the care of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) for over 50 years, very little is known about the potential benefits of uremic control on systemic complications of AKI. Since the mortality of AKI requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) is greater than half in the intensive care unit, a better understanding of the potential of RRT to improve outcomes is urgently needed. Therefore, we sought to develop a technically feasible and reproducible model of RRT in a mouse model of AKI. Models of low- and high-dose peritoneal dialysis (PD) were developed and their effect on AKI, systemic inflammation, and lung injury after ischemic AKI was examined. High-dose PD had no effect on AKI, but effectively cleared serum IL-6, and dramatically reduced lung inflammation, while low-dose PD had no effect on any of these three outcomes. Both models of RRT using PD in AKI in mice reliably lowered urea in a dose-dependent fashion. Thus, use of these models of PD in mice with AKI has great potential to unravel the mechanisms by which RRT may improve the systemic complications that have led to increased mortality in AKI. In light of recent data demonstrating reduced serum IL-6 and improved outcomes with prophylactic PD in children, we believe that our results are highly clinically relevant.

Kinetics of the cell cycle arrest biomarkers (TIMP-2*IGFBP-7) for prediction of acute kidney injury in infants after cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-7 (IGFBP-7) are cell-cycle arrest biomarkers that have been shown to be predictive of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill adults. AKI affects a large proportion (40%) of children following cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to describe the kinetics of TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 and test its ability to predict AKI in infants following cardiac surgery. METHODS: A multicenter prospective study was performed in infants undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) from October 2013 to January 2015. Urine samples were obtained at baseline and at 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after CPB initiation. TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 concentration was measured in urine samples using the Astute 140® meter to determine a risk score for AKI. This risk score is the product of TIMP-2 (ng/mL) and IGFBP-7 (ng/mL) divided by 1000. RESULTS: A total of 94 infants with a mean age of 154.2 ± 85.7 days were enrolled in the study, of whom 31 (33%) subsequently developed AKI. The mean time to AKI diagnosis was 25 ± 7 h after CPB initiation. The concentration of TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 was significantly higher in patients with AKI at 12 h after CPB initiation relative to baseline (p = 0.006). At 12 h after CPB initiation patients with a TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 concentration of ≥0.78 had a threefold higher odds of developing AKI than those with a TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 concentration of < 0.78 (95% confidence interval 1.47-6.11, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: These results demonstration that TIMP-2*IGFBP-7 concentration can be used in infants to predict subsequent serum creatinine-defined AKI following CPB.

Delivery of interleukin-10 via injectable hydrogels improves renal outcomes and reduces systemic inflammation following ischemic acute kidney injury in mice.

Injectable hydrogels can be used to deliver drugs in situ over a sustained period of time. We hypothesized that sustained delivery of interleukin-10 (IL-10) following acute kidney injury (AKI) would mitigate the local and systemic proinflammatory cascade induced by AKI and reduce subsequent fibrosis. Wild-type C57BL/6 mice underwent ischemia-reperfusion AKI with avertin anesthesia. Three days later, mice were treated with either hyaluronic acid injectable hydrogel with or without IL-10, or IL-10 suspended in saline, injected under the capsule of the left kidney, or hydrogel with IL-10 injected subcutaneously. Untreated AKI served as controls. Serial in vivo optical imaging tracked the location and degradation of the hydrogel over time. Kidney function was assessed serially. Animals were killed 28 days following AKI and the following were evaluated: serum IL-6, lung inflammation, urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, and renal histology for fibroblast activity, collagen type III deposition and fibrosis via Picrosirius Red staining and second harmonic imaging. Our model shows persistent systemic inflammation, and renal inflammation and fibrosis 28 days following AKI. The hydrogels are biocompatible and reduced serum IL-6 and renal collagen type III 28 days following AKI even when delivered without IL-10. Treatment with IL-10 reduced renal and systemic inflammation, regardless of whether the IL-10 was delivered in a sustained manner via the injectable hydrogel under the left kidney capsule, as a bolus injection via saline under the left kidney capsule, or via the injectable hydrogel subcutaneously. Injectable hydrogels are suitable for local drug delivery following renal injury, are biocompatible, and help mitigate local and systemic inflammation.

Structure, function, and on-off switching of a core unit contact between CheA kinase and CheW adaptor protein in the bacterial chemosensory array: A disulfide mapping and mutagenesis study.

The ultrasensitive, ultrastable bacterial chemosensory array of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium is representative of the large, conserved family of sensory arrays that control the cellular chemotaxis of motile bacteria and Archaea. The core framework of the membrane-bound array is a lattice assembled from three components: a transmembrane receptor, a cytoplasmic His kinase (CheA), and a cytoplasmic adaptor protein (CheW). Structural studies in the field have revealed the global architecture of the array and complexes between specific components, but much remains to be learned about the essential protein-protein interfaces that define array structure and transmit signals between components. This study has focused on the structure, function, and on-off switching of a key contact between the kinase and adaptor proteins in the working, membrane-bound array. Specifically, the study addressed interface 1 in the putative kinase-adaptor ring where subdomain 1 of the kinase regulatory domain contacts subdomain 2 of the adaptor protein. Two independent approaches, disulfide mapping and site-directed Trp and Ala mutagenesis, were employed (i) to test the structural model of interface 1 and (ii) to investigate its functional roles in both stable kinase incorporation and receptor-regulated kinase on-off switching. Studies were conducted in functional, membrane-bound arrays or in live cells. The findings reveal that crystal structures of binary and ternary complexes accurately depict the native interface in its kinase-activating on state. Furthermore, the findings indicate that at least part of the interface becomes less closely packed in its kinase-inhibiting off state. Together, the evidence shows the interface has a dual structural and signaling function that is crucial for incorporation of the stable kinase into the array, for kinase activation in the array on state, and likely for attractant-triggered kinase on-off switching. A model is presented that describes the concerted transmission of a conformational signal among the receptor, the kinase regulatory domain, and the adaptor protein. In principle, this signal could spread out into the surrounding array via the kinase-adaptor ring, employing a series of alternating frozen-dynamic transitions that transmit low-energy attractant signals long distances.