Induced pluripotent stem cells-podocytes promote repair in acute kidney injury is dependent on Mafb/CCR5/Nampt axis-mediated M2 macrophage polarization.

ABSTRACT

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have been the focus of cellular therapy studies. The use of iPSCs in regenerative medicine is limited by their tumorigenic potential. This study sought to determine whether iPSCs-derived podocytes attenuate acute kidney injury (AKI) and the molecular mechanism. Inoculation of iPSCs-podocytes significantly promoted the repair of kidney injury in AKI mice, reduced the levels of kidney injury factors Scr, BUN, and urinary NAG, and alleviated the inflammatory response. Histological analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of M2 macrophages and a significant decrease in M1 macrophages in the kidney tissues. Subsequently, the genes and signaling pathways that may be associated with kidney injury repair in mice were analyzed by RNA-seq and bioinformatics prediction. The polarization of M2 macrophages was promoted by MAF bZIP transcription factor B (Mafb)-mediated activation of C-C motif chemokine receptor 5 (Ccr5) and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) signaling pathway. Taken together, these results show that iPSCs-podocytes depend on Mafb to activate the Nampt signaling pathway through transcriptional activation of Ccr5, thereby promoting the repair of AKI caused by ischemia-reperfusion.