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α1-Microglobulin (A1M) Protects Human Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells from Heme-Induced Damage In Vitro

Kristiansson, Amanda LU ; Davidsson, Sara ; Johansson, Maria E. LU ; Piel, Sarah LU orcid ; Elmér, Eskil LU orcid ; Hansson, Magnus J. ; Åkerström, Bo LU and Gram, Magnus LU orcid (2020) In International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21(16).
Abstract

Oxidative stress is associated with many renal disorders, both acute and chronic, and has also been described to contribute to the disease progression. Therefore, oxidative stress is a potential therapeutic target. The human antioxidant α1-microglobulin (A1M) is a plasma and tissue protein with heme-binding, radical-scavenging and reductase activities. A1M can be internalized by cells, localized to the mitochondria and protect mitochondrial function. Due to its small size, A1M is filtered from the blood into the glomeruli, and taken up by the renal tubular epithelial cells. A1M has previously been described to reduce renal damage in animal models of preeclampsia, radiotherapy and rhabdomyolysis, and is proposed as a... (More)

Oxidative stress is associated with many renal disorders, both acute and chronic, and has also been described to contribute to the disease progression. Therefore, oxidative stress is a potential therapeutic target. The human antioxidant α1-microglobulin (A1M) is a plasma and tissue protein with heme-binding, radical-scavenging and reductase activities. A1M can be internalized by cells, localized to the mitochondria and protect mitochondrial function. Due to its small size, A1M is filtered from the blood into the glomeruli, and taken up by the renal tubular epithelial cells. A1M has previously been described to reduce renal damage in animal models of preeclampsia, radiotherapy and rhabdomyolysis, and is proposed as a pharmacological agent for the treatment of kidney damage. In this paper, we examined the in vitro protective effects of recombinant human A1M (rA1M) in human proximal tubule epithelial cells. Moreover, rA1M was found to protect against heme-induced cell-death both in primary cells (RPTEC) and in a cell-line (HK-2). Expression of stress-related genes was upregulated in both cell cultures in response to heme exposure, as measured by qPCR and confirmed with in situ hybridization in HK-2 cells, whereas co-treatment with rA1M counteracted the upregulation. Mitochondrial respiration, analyzed with the Seahorse extracellular flux analyzer, was compromised following exposure to heme, but preserved by co-treatment with rA1M. Finally, heme addition to RPTE cells induced an upregulation of the endogenous cellular expression of A1M, via activation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-pathway. Overall, data suggest that A1M/rA1M protects against stress-induced damage to tubule epithelial cells that, at least partly, can be attributed to maintaining mitochondrial function.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antioxidant defense, Heme, Human kidney epithelial cells, Mitochondrial respiration, Oxidative stress, α-microglobulin
in
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
volume
21
issue
16
article number
5825
pages
16 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85089580971
  • pmid:32823731
ISSN
1661-6596
DOI
10.3390/ijms21165825
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fdd62c0d-821c-4a18-9bd6-5eb3fd30fc83
date added to LUP
2020-08-27 13:15:29
date last changed
2024-03-05 03:07:59
@article{fdd62c0d-821c-4a18-9bd6-5eb3fd30fc83,
  abstract     = {{<p>Oxidative stress is associated with many renal disorders, both acute and chronic, and has also been described to contribute to the disease progression. Therefore, oxidative stress is a potential therapeutic target. The human antioxidant α<sub>1</sub>-microglobulin (A1M) is a plasma and tissue protein with heme-binding, radical-scavenging and reductase activities. A1M can be internalized by cells, localized to the mitochondria and protect mitochondrial function. Due to its small size, A1M is filtered from the blood into the glomeruli, and taken up by the renal tubular epithelial cells. A1M has previously been described to reduce renal damage in animal models of preeclampsia, radiotherapy and rhabdomyolysis, and is proposed as a pharmacological agent for the treatment of kidney damage. In this paper, we examined the in vitro protective effects of recombinant human A1M (rA1M) in human proximal tubule epithelial cells. Moreover, rA1M was found to protect against heme-induced cell-death both in primary cells (RPTEC) and in a cell-line (HK-2). Expression of stress-related genes was upregulated in both cell cultures in response to heme exposure, as measured by qPCR and confirmed with in situ hybridization in HK-2 cells, whereas co-treatment with rA1M counteracted the upregulation. Mitochondrial respiration, analyzed with the Seahorse extracellular flux analyzer, was compromised following exposure to heme, but preserved by co-treatment with rA1M. Finally, heme addition to RPTE cells induced an upregulation of the endogenous cellular expression of A1M, via activation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-pathway. Overall, data suggest that A1M/rA1M protects against stress-induced damage to tubule epithelial cells that, at least partly, can be attributed to maintaining mitochondrial function.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kristiansson, Amanda and Davidsson, Sara and Johansson, Maria E. and Piel, Sarah and Elmér, Eskil and Hansson, Magnus J. and Åkerström, Bo and Gram, Magnus}},
  issn         = {{1661-6596}},
  keywords     = {{Antioxidant defense; Heme; Human kidney epithelial cells; Mitochondrial respiration; Oxidative stress; α-microglobulin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{16}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Molecular Sciences}},
  title        = {{α<sub>1</sub>-Microglobulin (A1M) Protects Human Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells from Heme-Induced Damage In Vitro}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21165825}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijms21165825}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}