PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Adrenomedullin-RAMP2 system suppresses ER stress-induced tubule cell death and is involved in kidney protection.

  • Ryuichi Uetake,
  • Takayuki Sakurai,
  • Akiko Kamiyoshi,
  • Yuka Ichikawa-Shindo,
  • Hisaka Kawate,
  • Yasuhiro Iesato,
  • Takahiro Yoshizawa,
  • Teruhide Koyama,
  • Lei Yang,
  • Yuichi Toriyama,
  • Akihiro Yamauchi,
  • Kyoko Igarashi,
  • Megumu Tanaka,
  • Takashige Kuwabara,
  • Kiyoshi Mori,
  • Motoko Yanagita,
  • Masashi Mukoyama,
  • Takayuki Shindo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087667
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 2
p. e87667

Abstract

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Various bioactive peptides have been implicated in the homeostasis of organs and tissues. Adrenomedullin (AM) is a peptide with various bioactivities. AM-receptor, calcitonin-receptor-like receptor (CLR) associates with one of the subtypes of the accessory proteins, RAMPs. Among the RAMP subisoforms, only RAMP2 knockout mice ⁻/⁻ reproduce the phenotype of embryonic lethality of AM⁻/⁻, illustrating the importance of the AM-RAMP2-signaling system. Although AM and RAMP2 are abundantly expressed in kidney, their function there remains largely unknown. We used genetically modified mice to assess the pathophysiological functions of the AM-RAMP2 system. RAMP2⁺/⁻ mice and their wild-type littermates were used in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced renal injury model. The effect of STZ on glomeruli did not differ between the 2 types of mice. On the other hand, damage to the proximal urinary tubules was greater in RAMP2⁺/⁻. Tubular injury in RAMP2⁺/⁻ was resistant to correction of blood glucose by insulin administration. We examined the effect of STZ on human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTECs), which express glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), the glucose transporter that specifically takes up STZ. STZ activated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensor protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK). AM suppressed PERK activation, its downstream signaling, and CCAAT/enhancer-binding homologous protein (CHOP)-induced cell death. We confirmed that the tubular damage was caused by ER stress-induced cell death using tunicamycin (TUN), which directly evokes ER stress. In RAMP2⁺/⁻ kidneys, TUN caused severe injury with enhanced ER stress. In wild-type mice, TUN-induced tubular damage was reversed by AM administration. On the other hand, in RAMP2⁺/⁻, the rescue effect of exogenous AM was lost. These results indicate that the AM-RAMP2 system suppresses ER stress-induced tubule cell death, thereby exerting a protective effect on kidney. The AM-RAMP2 system thus has the potential to serve as a therapeutic target in kidney disease.