2. Academic Validation
  3. Remote ischemia precondition protects against renal IRI through apoptosis associated vesicles carrying MIF protein via modulating DUSP6/JNK signaling axis

Remote ischemia precondition protects against renal IRI through apoptosis associated vesicles carrying MIF protein via modulating DUSP6/JNK signaling axis

  • J Nanobiotechnology. 2025 Jun 6;23(1):422. doi: 10.1186/s12951-025-03505-9.
Nieke Zhang # 1 2,  Zhicong Huang # 1 2,  Yi Xia 1 2,  Shuchun Tao 1 2,  Tiange Wu 1 2,  Si Sun 1 2,  Yongkun Zhu 1 2,  Guiya Jiang 1 2,  Xun Lu 3,  Yue Gao 4,  Fangfang Guo 5,  Rui Cao 1 2,  Shuqiu Chen 1 2,  Lei Zhang 1 2,  Xiangyu Zou 6 7,  Ming Chen 8 9,  Guangyuan Zhang 10 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Urology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China.
  • 2 Institute of Urology, Medical School, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China.
  • 3 Department of Urology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
  • 5 Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 6 Department of Urology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. zouxiangyudy@126.com.
  • 7 School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China. zouxiangyudy@126.com.
  • 8 Department of Urology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China. mingchenseu@126.com.
  • 9 Institute of Urology, Medical School, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China. mingchenseu@126.com.
  • 10 Department of Urology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China. zgy0879@qq.com.
  • 11 Institute of Urology, Medical School, Southeast University, No. 87 Dingjiaqiao, Hunan Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, 210009, China. zgy0879@qq.com.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40481499 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-025-03505-9
Abstract

Background: Remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) has been reported to protect against kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) through the delivery of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Among these, apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation signaling-related vesicles (ACPSVs) can transmit proliferation signals to surrounding cells. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of ACPSVs in renal IRI following rIPC and to elucidate the associated mechanisms.

Results: We demonstrated that rIPC plasma or ACPSVs alleviated renal damage and inflammation, with the protective effects abolished upon the removal of ACPSVs from the plasma. EVs isolated via differential centrifugation exhibited defining characteristics of ACPSVs. Co-culture experiments revealed that ACPSVs reduced Apoptosis and enhanced the viability of HK-2 cells under hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) conditions. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses highlighted the critical role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) protein in ACPSVs. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated MIF-knockout HeLa cells to induce the production of MIF-deficient ACPSVs. The protective effects of ACPSVs were significantly attenuated when MIF was knocked out. Transcriptome Sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed that MIF suppresses dual-specificity Phosphatase 6 (DUSP6) expression by promoting H3K9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) in the DUSP6 promoter region, thereby activating the JNK signaling pathway. In rescue experiments, treatment with the DUSP6 inhibitor BCI effectively restored the protective function of MIF-deficient ACPSVs.

Conclusion: This study underscores the protective role of ACPSVs derived from rIPC-treated rats and serum-starved cells against renal IRI through the MIF/DUSP6/JNK signaling axis, offering a potential clinical therapeutic strategy for acute kidney injury induced by IRI.

Graphical Abstract:

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-025-03505-9.

Keywords

Apoptosis-induced compensatory proliferation signaling-related vesicles (ACPSVs); DUSP6/JNK signaling axis; Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF); Remote ischemia precondition (rIPC); Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI).

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