Nature Communications (Dec 2023)

Autophagy of OTUD5 destabilizes GPX4 to confer ferroptosis-dependent kidney injury

  • Li-Kai Chu,
  • Xu Cao,
  • Lin Wan,
  • Qiang Diao,
  • Yu Zhu,
  • Yu Kan,
  • Li-Li Ye,
  • Yi-Ming Mao,
  • Xing-Qiang Dong,
  • Qian-Wei Xiong,
  • Ming-Cui Fu,
  • Ting Zhang,
  • Hui-Ting Zhou,
  • Shi-Zhong Cai,
  • Zhou-Rui Ma,
  • Ssu-Wei Hsu,
  • Reen Wu,
  • Ching-Hsien Chen,
  • Xiang-Ming Yan,
  • Jun Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44228-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

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Abstract Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent programmed cell death associated with severe kidney diseases, linked to decreased glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). However, the spatial distribution of renal GPX4-mediated ferroptosis and the molecular events causing GPX4 reduction during ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) remain largely unknown. Using spatial transcriptomics, we identify that GPX4 is situated at the interface of the inner cortex and outer medulla, a hyperactive ferroptosis site post-I/R injury. We further discover OTU deubiquitinase 5 (OTUD5) as a GPX4-binding protein that confers ferroptosis resistance by stabilizing GPX4. During I/R, ferroptosis is induced by mTORC1-mediated autophagy, causing OTUD5 degradation and subsequent GPX4 decay. Functionally, OTUD5 deletion intensifies renal tubular cell ferroptosis and exacerbates acute kidney injury, while AAV-mediated OTUD5 delivery mitigates ferroptosis and promotes renal function recovery from I/R injury. Overall, this study highlights a new autophagy-dependent ferroptosis module: hypoxia/ischemia-induced OTUD5 autophagy triggers GPX4 degradation, offering a potential therapeutic avenue for I/R-related kidney diseases.