Acute kidney injury (AKI) resulting from ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a frequently encountered clinical problem and associates with high mortality in a critical care setting. It is furthermore an important contributor to the progressionof chronic kidney disease (CKD). A central pathway in the regulation of renal hypoxia/ischemia responses is the prolyl-hydroxylase (PHD)/hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) oxygen-sensing pathway. PHD proteins are iron- and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent oxygenases that function as oxygen sensors and regulate HIF activity by catalyzing the hydroxylation of specific proline residues within the oxygen-dependent degradation domain of it's alpha-subunit. HIFs are pleiotropic heterodimeric transcription factors that play key roles in cellular adaptation and survival under hypoxic/ischemic conditions. All three main HIF-PHDs, PHD1, -2 and -3, are expressed in the kidney. While PHD2 regulates HIF-1 activity in renal epithelial cells and has been shown to control erythropoietin production in renal interstitial cells, the role of PHD1 and PHD3 in renal hypoxia responses and pathophysiology is unknown. Our laboratory and other groups have demonstrated in preclinical animal models that short-term pharmacologic inactivation of renal PHDs has great therapeutic potential for the prevention of acute ischemic injuries and their long-term sequelae. In order to understand the functional role of individual PHDs in renal physiology and to gain insight into the molecular and cellular basis of PHD/HIF-mediated renoprotection, we have begun to use genetic and pharmacologic approaches to dissect cell type-specific PHD functions and their role in the regulation of renal metabolism. Here we hypothesize that PHD/HIF-controlled re-programming of metabolism in renal epithelial cells plays a central role in determining the biological outcome of ischemic kidney injuries. Under this grant we use genetically engineered mice to investigate the metabolic consequences of acute PHD inactivation in the kidney.
Three specific aims are proposed.
Aims 1 investigates the role of PHD2 in renal energy metabolism, aim 2 examines the functional role of tubular epithelial PHD1 and PHD3 in renal physiology and IRI, and aim 3 examines specific metabolic pathways that associate with cytoprotection in IRI.

Public Health Relevance

This grant investigates the role of HIF prolyl-hydroxylation in acute ischemic kidney injury. Work proposed under this grant will further our understanding of the molecular mechanism that lead to protection from acute kidney injury with a specific emphasis on renal metabolism. Because of its central role in renal hypoxia responses, pharmacologic targeting of the PHD/HIF axis has great potential to improve the clinical outcome of ischemic kidney injuries.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DK101791-05
Application #
9318197
Study Section
Pathobiology of Kidney Disease Study Section (PBKD)
Program Officer
Rys-Sikora, Krystyna E
Project Start
2014-09-22
Project End
2019-06-30
Budget Start
2017-07-01
Budget End
2018-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Type
DUNS #
079917897
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37232
Haase, Volker H (2018) ARNT as a Novel Antifibrotic Target in CKD. Am J Kidney Dis :
Haase, Volker H (2017) HIF-prolyl hydroxylases as therapeutic targets in erythropoiesis and iron metabolism. Hemodial Int 21 Suppl 1:S110-S124
Kobayashi, Hanako; Liu, Jiao; Urrutia, Andres A et al. (2017) Hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl-4-hydroxylation in FOXD1 lineage cells is essential for normal kidney development. Kidney Int 92:1370-1383
Haase, Volker H (2017) Therapeutic targeting of the HIF oxygen-sensing pathway: Lessons learned from clinical studies. Exp Cell Res 356:160-165
Farsijani, Navid M; Liu, Qingdu; Kobayashi, Hanako et al. (2016) Renal epithelium regulates erythropoiesis via HIF-dependent suppression of erythropoietin. J Clin Invest 126:1425-37
Kobayashi, Hanako; Liu, Qingdu; Binns, Thomas C et al. (2016) Distinct subpopulations of FOXD1 stroma-derived cells regulate renal erythropoietin. J Clin Invest 126:1926-38
Cho, Sung Hoon; Raybuck, Ariel L; Stengel, Kristy et al. (2016) Germinal centre hypoxia and regulation of antibody qualities by a hypoxia response system. Nature 537:234-238
Kapitsinou, Pinelopi P; Rajendran, Ganeshkumar; Astleford, Lindsay et al. (2016) The Endothelial Prolyl-4-Hydroxylase Domain 2/Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 2 Axis Regulates Pulmonary Artery Pressure in Mice. Mol Cell Biol 36:1584-94
Urrutia, Andres A; Afzal, Aqeela; Nelson, Jacob et al. (2016) Prolyl-4-hydroxylase 2 and 3 coregulate murine erythropoietin in brain pericytes. Blood 128:2550-2560
Haase, Volker H (2015) A breath of fresh air for diabetic nephropathy. J Am Soc Nephrol 26:239-41

Showing the most recent 10 out of 14 publications