Inhibition of PKC-δ retards kidney fibrosis via inhibiting cGAS-STING signaling pathway in mice.
作者信息
Wang Dongyun, Li Yue, Li Guiying, Liu Mengyu, Zhou Zihui, Wu Ming, Song Shan, Bian Yawei, Dong Jiajia, Li Xinran, Du Yunxia, Zhang Tao, Shi Yonghong
机构信息
Department of Pathology, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China.
Hebei Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China.
出版信息
Cell Death Discov. 2024 Jul 7;10(1):314. doi: 10.1038/s41420-024-02087-z.
Kidney fibrosis is considered to be the ultimate aggregation pathway of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but its underlying mechanism remains elusive. Protein kinase C-delta (PKC-δ) plays critical roles in the control of growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this study, we found that PKC-δ was highly upregulated in human biopsy samples and mouse kidneys with fibrosis. Rottlerin, a PKC-δ inhibitor, alleviated unilateral ureteral ligation (UUO)-induced kidney fibrosis, inflammation, VDAC1 expression, and cGAS-STING signaling pathway activation. Adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9)-mediated VDAC1 silencing or VBIT-12, a VDAC1 inhibitor, attenuated renal injury, inflammation, and activation of cGAS-STING signaling pathway in UUO mouse model. Genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of STING relieved renal fibrosis and inflammation in UUO mice. In vitro, hypoxia resulted in PKC-δ phosphorylation, VDAC1 oligomerization, and activation of cGAS-STING signaling pathway in HK-2 cells. Inhibition of PKC-δ, VDAC1 or STING alleviated hypoxia-induced fibrotic and inflammatory responses in HK-2 cells, respectively. Mechanistically, PKC-δ activation induced mitochondrial membrane VDAC1 oligomerization via direct binding VDAC1, followed by the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) release into the cytoplasm, and subsequent activated cGAS-STING signaling pathway, which contributed to the inflammation leading to fibrosis. In conclusion, this study has indicated for the first time that PKC-δ is an important regulator in kidney fibrosis by promoting cGAS-STING signaling pathway which mediated by VDAC1. PKC-δ may be useful for treating renal fibrosis and subsequent CKD.