Plateau hypoxia induces pyroptosis in mouse kidney cells through NOD-like receptor signaling pathway

Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2025, 11, v.60 2052-2058     font:big middle small

Found programs: National Natural Science Foundation of China ( No . 82060295) ; Science and Technology Pro- ject of Qinghai Province (No . 2023-ZJ-771)

Authors:Xu Xintong , Chen Xiaochen , Cui Chengling , Wang Xin , Gao Xiang

Keywords:hypoxia; kidney; transcriptomics; NOD-like receptor signaling pathway; inflammatory factor; pyroptosis;

DOI:10.19405/j.cnki.issn1000-1492.2025.11.009

〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the molecular mechanism of NOD-like receptor(NLR) signaling pathway induced cellular focal death in mouse kidney tissues under plateau hypoxia based on transcriptomic sequencing technology.Methods Animal models were constructed in high-altitude kidney test group(HKT group) and plain kidney control group(PKC group),and C57/BL6 mice were bred at an altitude of 4 200 m and 400 m,respectively.Kidney tissues were aseptically taken out after 30 d and used for observation of renal histopathological changes and transcriptomics sequencing,respectively,and then differentially expressed genes(DEGs) were enriched by KEGG and GO analysis.Key gene and protein expression levels were verified by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) and Western blot analysis.Results Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining showed that the renal tubules of HKT mice were disorganized,and the tubular epithelial cells were edematous with inflammatory cell aggregation.Transcriptomics sequencing analysis revealed that a total of 3 007 DEGs were identified in the HKT group,and KEGG analysis showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in the NLR signaling pathway.The mRNA expression of the key differentially expressed genes,CASP1,CASP11,GSDMD,IFI16,NAIP5,IRF9,and the downstream inflammatory factors,IL-1β and IL-18,was upregulated,and protein expression of CASP1,CASP11,and GSDMD was up-regulated.Conclusion The plateau hypoxic environment induces cellular pyroptosis by regulating the expression of NLR signaling pathway and releases downstream inflammatory factors to cause inflammatory responses.