| First Author | Noel S | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | J Am Soc Nephrol | Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 12 | Pages | 2989-3000 |
| PubMed ID | 26293820 | Mgi Jnum | J:290689 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6436232 | Doi | 10.1681/ASN.2014100978 |
| Citation | Noel S, et al. (2015) T Lymphocyte-Specific Activation of Nrf2 Protects from AKI. J Am Soc Nephrol 26(12):2989-3000 |
| abstractText | T lymphocytes are established mediators of ischemia reperfusion (IR)-induced AKI, but traditional immune principles do not explain their mechanism of early action in the absence of alloantigen. Nrf2 is a transcription factor that is crucial for cytoprotective gene expression and is generally thought to have a key role in dampening IR-induced AKI through protective effects on epithelial cells. We proposed an alternative hypothesis that augmentation of Nrf2 in T cells is essential to mitigate oxidative stress during IR-induced AKI. We therefore generated mice with genetically amplified levels of Nrf2 specifically in T cells and examined the effect on antioxidant gene expression, T cell activation, cytokine production, and IR-induced AKI. T cell-specific augmentation of Nrf2 significantly increased baseline antioxidant gene expression. These mice had a high frequency of intrarenal CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells and decreased frequencies of CD11b(+)CD11c(+) and F4/80(+) cells. Intracellular levels of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IL-17 were significantly lower in CD4(+) T cells with high Nrf2 expression. Mice with increased T cell expression of Nrf2 were significantly protected from functional and histologic consequences of AKI. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of high-Nrf2 T cells protected wild-type mice from IR injury and significantly improved their survival. These data demonstrate that T cell-specific activation of Nrf2 protects from IR-induced AKI, revealing a novel mechanism of tissue protection during acute injury responses. |
