Gprc5b Modulates Inflammatory Response in Glomerular Diseases
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BASIC RESEARCH www.jasn.org GPRC5b Modulates Inflammatory Response in Glomerular Diseases via NF-kB Pathway Sonia Zambrano,1 Katja Möller-Hackbarth,1 Xidan Li,1 Patricia Q. Rodriguez,1 Emmanuelle Charrin,1 Angelina Schwarz,1 Jenny Nyström,2 Annika Östman Wernerson,3 Mark Lal,4 and Jaakko Patrakka1 1Karolinska Insitutet/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; 2Department of Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 3Division of Renal Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and 4Division of Bioscience, Department of Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases, Innovative Medicines Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden ABSTRACT Background Inflammatory processes play an important role in the pathogenesis of glomerulopathies. Finding novel ways to suppress glomerular inflammation may offer a new way to stop disease progression. However, the molecular mechanisms that initiate and drive inflammation in the glomerulus are still poorly understood. Methods We performed large-scale gene expression profiling of glomerulus-associated G protein– coupled receptors (GPCRs) to identify new potential therapeutic targets for glomerulopathies. The expression of Gprc5b in disease was analyzed using quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence, and by analyzing published microarray data sets. In vivo studies were carried out in a podocyte-specificGprc5b knockout mouse line. Mechanistic studies were performed in cultured human podocytes. Results We identified an orphan GPCR, Gprc5b, as a novel gene highly enriched in podocytes that was significantly upregulated in common human glomerulopathies, including diabetic nephropathy, IgA ne- phropathy, and lupus nephritis. Similar upregulation of Gprc5b was detected in LPS-induced nephropathy in mice. Studies in podocyte-specific Gprc5b knockout mice showed that Gprc5b was not essential for normal development of the glomerular filtration barrier. However, knockout mice were partially protected from LPS-induced proteinuria and recruitment of inflammatory cells. Mechanistically, RNA sequencing in Gprc5b knockouts mice and experiments in cultured human podocytes showed that Gpr5cb regulated inflammatory response in podocytes via NF-kB signaling. Conclusions GPRC5b is a novel podocyte-specific receptor that regulates inflammatory response in the glomerulus by modulating the NF-kB signaling pathway. Upregulation of Gprc5b in human glomerulopathies suggests that it may play a role in their pathogenesis. JASN 30: 1573–1586, 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2019010089 Glomerular disease processes are the most common Received January 28, 2019. Accepted May 9, 2019. cause of ESRD. Glomerular injury can be caused by Published online ahead of print. Publication date available at systemic diseases, such as in diabetic nephropathy www.jasn.org. (DN) and lupus nephritis (LN), or more glomerulus- fi Correspondence: Dr. Jaakko Patrakka, KI/AZ Integrated Cardio speci c disorders, such as IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Metabolic Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Patients with glomerulopathies are treated with Institute at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Blickagången 6, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and/or 141 57 Huddinge, Sweden. Email: [email protected] angiotensin receptor II blockers to diminish proteinuria. Copyright © 2019 by the American Society of Nephrology JASN 30: 1573–1586, 2019 ISSN : 1046-6673/3009-1573 1573 BASIC RESEARCH www.jasn.org When disease progresses rapidly, steroids and other immu- Significance Statement nosuppressive drugs can be used. These pharmaceuti- cal treatment options do not specifically target kidney Mechanisms regulating inflammatory response in glomeruli are tissue, and currently we lack molecular targets in the poorly understood. In this study, the authors identify a novel – glomerulus to develop more kidney-directed therapeutic G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that is highly enriched in podocytes, called Gprc5b. Gprc5b is upregulated in common 1 options. human glomerular diseases, such as IgA nephropathy, lupus ne- As podocyte loss is a key event in the progression of glo- phritis, and diabetic nephropathy. Studies in knockout animals merulopathies, many studies have concentrated on analyzing and human podocytes grown in culture show that Gprc5b pro- molecular mechanisms of podocyte death.2 However, podo- motes glomerular inflammation via regulation of NF-kB pathway cyte loss is often a late event in the disease and it is likely that in podocytes. Upregulation of Gprc5b in human diseases sug- fi gests that this mechanism may play an important role in the targeting earlier changes is a more ef cient approach. Glomer- pathogenesis of common glomerulopathies. ular inflammation and recruitment of inflammatory cells is occurring early in glomerulopathies.3 Involvement of inflam- mation in the progression of glomerulopathies, such as LN and Transgenic Mouse Lines IgAN, is obvious. Similarly, although traditionally DN has been Gene targeting of Gprc5b gene was performed by The European considered a noninflammatory glomerular disease, global Conditional Mouse Mutagenesis Program (www.eucomm.org). transcript profiling studies have shown inflammatory signal- The construct was targeted to surround the exon 2 of the tm1a(EUCOMM)Wtsi ing and recruitment of immune cells in diabetic glomeruli.4 GPRC5b gene, allele Gprc5b . The mice were The inflammatory signature in glomerulopathies and in a mixed C57bl/6 and 129Sv background. We crossed these fl diabetic glomeruli includes activation of key transcriptional mice with an FLP-deleter line to generate a oxed mouse line, fl Gprc5b Gprc5b-fl Gprc5b-fl regulator NF-kB and JAK/STAT pathways, which are known ox ( ). was crossed with a podocin-cre Gprc5b fi Gprc5b- to drive cytokine production and influx of inflammatory line to inactivate speci cally in podocytes ( cKO). cells.527 The role of podocytes in this process is poorly The genotyping was done by PCR using genomic DNA understood. extracted from ear biopsy specimens. Primers for genotyp- G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large family of ing were as follows: CAS-R1-Term: tcgtggtatcgttatgcgcc; Gprc5b Gprc5b proteins that participate in a wide variety of biologic processes. -87598-F: gctggaaggtttctccctct; -87598-R: They have been successfully exploited by the pharmaceutical aagagacaaccaccagacagg. tm14(CAG-td-Tomato)Hze/J industry as 20%–30% of the market share of clinically used The Gt(ROSA)26Sor mice were drugs target members of this family.8,9 To identify potential crossed with a podocin-cre line to activate the td-Tomato ex- fi new pharmaceutical targets in the glomerulus, we recently pression speci cally in podocytes. Breeding and genotyping performed a high-throughput expressional profiling of glo- were done according to standard procedures. merular GPCRs.10 In this study, we follow up on our previous All animal studies were carried out in Preclinical Laboratory study and describe an orphan GPCR, Gprc5b, as a novel, (Karolinska Institutet) and were approved by the Ethical highly podocyte-enriched molecule. We show that Gprc5b Committee on Research Animal Care. expression is induced in common human glomerulopathies andthatitmodulatesinflammatory response in podocytes LPS-Induced Proteinuria Mouse Model via NF-kB pathway. We speculate that Gprc5b could be a Ten-week-old mice were treated by a single intraperitoneal novel molecular target to suppress inflammatory response injection of 13 mg/g body wt of LPS (L9641; Sigma). A total in glomerular disease processes. of 18 littermate control controls and 19 Gprc5b-cKO animals were included. Urine was collected before the injection and at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 56 hours after the injection. Albumin and METHODS creatinine values were measured using Albuwell kit (catalog number 1011; Exocell) and Quantichrome creatinine assay kit Human Material (catalog number DICT-500; BioAssay Systems), respectively. Control human kidney tissue was from kidneys that were re- moved because of renal carcinoma or from renal biopsy spec- Immunofluorescence imens taken from healthy, living, related donor kidneys at We used frozen human and mouse samples fixed in cold ace- Karolinska University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden). Only tone and blocked with normal goat serum (G9023; Sigma). The kidney tissue that was histologically normal was used. Renal primary antibodies, incubated overnight at 4°C, were: Gprc5b biopsy samples from patients with DN were collected at (catalog number HPA015247, 1:500; Atlas Antibodies), CD31 Karolinska University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden) and (catalog number 303106, 1:2000; Biolegend), PDGFRb (catalog Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden). number MAB1263, 1:1000; R&D System), CD45 (catalog num- The local ethical committees at both sites approved the study ber ab64100, 1:250; Abcam), mouse nephrin (catalog number (approval no. 2010/579-31/1, Stockholm, Sweden; approval BP5030, 1:200; Acris). The human nephrin antibody has been no. 413-09, Gothenburg, Sweden). described previously.11 1574 JASN JASN 30: 1573–1586, 2019 www.jasn.org BASIC RESEARCH Histologic Analysis and Electron Microscopy Signaling Technology), b-actin (catalog number 8227, For histologic analyses, kidney samples were fixed in 4% para- 1:2000; Abcam). formaldehyde followed by dehydration and embedding