Autophagy plays a critical role in kidney tubule maintenance, aging and ischemia-reperfusion injury
01.05.2012
Liu S, Hartleben B, Kretz O, Wiech T, Igarashi P, Mizushima N, Walz G, Huber TB
Autophagy. 2012; 8(5):826-37.
Here, we examine the role of tubular cell autophagy in vivo under both physiological conditions and stress using two different tubular-specific Atg5-knockout mouse models. While Atg5 deletion in distal tubule cells does not cause a significant alteration in kidney function, deleting Atg5 in both distal and proximal tubule cells results in impaired kidney function. Tubular cell Atg5-deficiency dramatically sensitizes the kidneys to ischemic injury, resulting in impaired kidney function, accumulation of damaged mitochondria as well as increased tubular cell apoptosis and proliferation.
