Donor Toll-like receptor 4 contributes to ischemia and reperfusion injury following human kidney transplantation.

Abstract

While studies in animal models have linked Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 signaling to kidney injury induced by ischemia and reperfusion, the relevance of TLR4 activation to allograft injury in human kidney transplants is unknown. Here we show that TLR4 is constitutively expressed within all donor kidneys but is significantly higher in deceased-, compared with living-donor organs. Tubules from deceased- but not living-donor kidneys also stained positively for high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), a known endogenous TLR4 ligand. In vitro stimulation of human tubular cells with HMGB1, in a TLR4-dependent system, confirmed that HMGB1 can stimulate proinflammatory responses through TLR4. To assess the functional significance of TLR4 in human kidney transplantation, we determined whether TLR4 mutations that confer diminished affinity for HMGB1 influence intragraft gene-expression profiles and immediate graft function. Compared with kidneys expressing WT alleles, kidneys with a TLR4 loss-of-function allele contained less TNFalpha, MCP-1, and more heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and exhibited a higher rate of immediate graft function. These results represent previously undetected evidence that donor TLR4 contributes to graft inflammation and sterile injury following cold preservation and transplantation in humans. Targeting TLR4 signaling may have value in preventing or treating postischemic acute kidney injury after transplantation.

• Authors: Bernd Krüger, Stefanie Krick, Navdeep Dhillon, Susan M Lerner, Scott Ames, Jonathan S Bromberg, Marvin Lin, Liron Walsh, John Vella, Michael Fischereder, Bernhard K Krämer, Robert B Colvin, Peter S Heeger, Barbara T Murphy, Bernd Schröppel
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 106 Issue 9 Pg. 3390-5 (Mar 03 2009) ISSN: 1091-6490 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19218437 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• HMGB1 Protein
• TLR4 protein, human
• Toll-Like Receptor 4

Topics

• Biopsy
• Gene Expression Regulation
• Graft Survival
• HMGB1 Protein (metabolism)
• Humans
• Kidney Transplantation (methods)
• Mutation (genetics)
• Protein Binding
• Reperfusion Injury (metabolism)
• Tissue Donors
• Toll-Like Receptor 4 (genetics, metabolism)
• Up-Regulation