Markus Gödel

Autophagy influences glomerular disease susceptibility and maintains podocyte homeostasis in aging mice

Injury and loss of podocytes are leading factors of glomerular disease and renal failure. The postmitotic podocyte is the primary glomerular target for toxic, immune, metabolic, and oxidant stress, but little is known about how this cell type copes with stress. Recently, autophagy has been identified as a major pathway that delivers damaged proteins and organelles to lysosomes in order to maintain cellular homeostasis. Here we report that podocytes exhibit an unusually high level of constitutive autophagy. Podocyte-specific deletion of autophagy-related 5 (Atg5) led to a glomerulopathy in aging mice that was accompanied by an accumulation of oxidized and ubiquitinated proteins, ER stress, and proteinuria. These changes resulted ultimately in podocyte loss and late-onset glomerulosclerosis. Analysis of pathophysiological conditions indicated that autophagy was substantially increased in glomeruli from mice with induced proteinuria and in glomeruli from patients with acquired proteinuric diseases. Further, mice lacking Atg5 in podocytes exhibited strongly increased susceptibility to models of glomerular disease. These findings highlight the importance of induced autophagy as a key homeostatic mechanism to maintain podocyte integrity. We postulate that constitutive and induced autophagy is a major protective mechanism against podocyte aging and glomerular injury, representing a putative target to ameliorate human glomerular disease and aging-related loss of renal function.

Role of mTOR in podocyte function and diabetic nephropathy in humans and mice

Chronic glomerular diseases, associated with renal failure and cardiovascular morbidity, represent a major health issue. However, they remain poorly understood. Here we have reported that tightly controlled mTOR activity was crucial to maintaining glomerular podocyte function, while dysregulation of mTOR facilitated glomerular diseases. Genetic deletion of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in mouse podocytes induced proteinuria and progressive glomerulosclerosis. Furthermore, simultaneous deletion of both mTORC1 and mTORC2 from mouse podocytes aggravated the glomerular lesions, revealing the importance of both mTOR complexes for podocyte homeostasis. In contrast, increased mTOR activity accompanied human diabetic nephropathy, characterized by early glomerular hypertrophy and hyperfiltration. Curtailing mTORC1 signaling in mice by genetically reducing mTORC1 copy number in podocytes prevented glomerulosclerosis and significantly ameliorated the progression of glomerular disease in diabetic nephropathy. These results demonstrate the requirement for tightly balanced mTOR activity in podocyte homeostasis and suggest that mTOR inhibition can protect podocytes and prevent progressive diabetic nephropathy.

Primary cilia regulate mTORC1 activity and cell size through Lkb1

The mTOR pathway is the central regulator of cell size. External signals from growth factors and nutrients converge on the mTORC1 multi-protein complex to modulate downstream targets, but how the different inputs are integrated and translated into specific cellular responses is incompletely understood. Deregulation of the mTOR pathway occurs in polycystic kidney disease (PKD), where cilia (filiform sensory organelles) fail to sense urine flow because of inherited mutations in ciliary proteins. We therefore investigated if cilia have a role in mTOR regulation. Here, we show that ablation of cilia in transgenic mice results in enlarged cells when compared with control animals. In vitro analysis demonstrated that bending of the cilia by flow is required for mTOR downregulation and cell-size control. Surprisingly, regulation of cell size by cilia is independent of flow-induced calcium transients, or Akt. However, the tumour-suppressor protein Lkb1 localises in the cilium, and flow results in increased AMPK phosphorylation at the basal body. Conversely, knockdown of Lkb1 prevents normal cell-size regulation under flow conditions. Our results demonstrate that the cilium regulates mTOR signalling and cell size, and identify the cilium-basal body compartment as a spatially restricted activation site for Lkb1 signalling.

Bigenic mouse models of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis involving pairwise interaction of CD2AP, Fyn, and synaptopodin

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is the most common primary glomerular diagnosis resulting in end-stage renal disease. Defects in several podocyte proteins have been implicated in the etiology of FSGS, including podocin, alpha-actinin-4, CD2-associated protein (CD2AP), and TRPC6. Despite our growing understanding of genes involved in the pathogenesis of focal segmental sclerosis, the vast majority of patients with this disease, even those with a familial linkage, lack a clear genetic diagnosis. Here, we tested whether combinations of genetic heterozygosity (bigenic heterozygosity) that alone do not result in clinical kidney disease could function together to enhance susceptibility to glomerular damage and FSGS. Combinations of Cd2ap heterozygosity and heterozygosity of either synaptopodin (Synpo) or Fyn proto-oncogene (Fyn) but not kin of IRRE like 1 (Neph1) resulted in spontaneous proteinuria and in FSGS-like glomerular damage. These genetic interactions were also reflected at a functional level, as we found that CD2AP associates with Fyn and Synpo but not with Neph1. This demonstrates that bigenic heterozygosity can lead to FSGS and suggests that combined mutations in 2 or multiple podocyte genes may be a common etiology for glomerular disease.

A Dynamic Network Model of mTOR Signaling Reveals TSC-Independent mTORC2 Regulation

Modeling and testing network structures reveal a distinct mechanism of mTORC2 activation by insulin. Computing TOR Regulation Without effective genetic or specific pharmacological tools, it can be challenging to dissect regulatory mechanisms in complex, interconnected pathways. Dalle Pezze et al. combined computational modeling with biochemical analysis to test specific regulatory mechanisms of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, in particular the regulation of mTOR complex mTORC2, which has important functions in controlling cell growth. After identifying key network components that could be experimentally monitored to explicitly test specific network structures, they compared the experimental data to the modeled networks to rule out previously suggested regulatory mechanisms and postulated the existence of a previously unknown pathway. Their results led to the proposal of a distinct phosphoinositide 3-kinase–dependent pathway from the insulin receptor to mTORC2 that is independent of various components that participate in the activation of mTORC1 and thus should open new areas of research into mTOR signaling and could provide direction for developing selective regulators of mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling. The kinase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) exists in two multiprotein complexes (mTORC1 and mTORC2) and is a central regulator of growth and metabolism. Insulin activation of mTORC1, mediated by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, and the inhibitory tuberous sclerosis complex 1/2 (TSC1-TSC2), initiates a negative feedback loop that ultimately inhibits PI3K. We present a data-driven dynamic insulin-mTOR network model that integrates the entire core network and used this model to investigate the less well understood mechanisms by which insulin regulates mTORC2. By analyzing the effects of perturbations targeting several levels within the network in silico and experimentally, we found that, in contrast to current hypotheses, the TSC1-TSC2 complex was not a direct or indirect (acting through the negative feedback loop) regulator of mTORC2. Although mTORC2 activation required active PI3K, this was not affected by the negative feedback loop. Therefore, we propose an mTORC2 activation pathway through a PI3K variant that is insensitive to the negative feedback loop that regulates mTORC1. This putative pathway predicts that mTORC2 would be refractory to Akt, which inhibits TSC1-TSC2, and, indeed, we found that mTORC2 was insensitive to constitutive Akt activation in several cell types. Our results suggest that a previously unknown network structure connects mTORC2 to its upstream cues and clarifies which molecular connectors contribute to mTORC2 activation.

A model organism approach: defining the role of Neph proteins as regulators of neuron and kidney morphogenesis

Mutations of the immunoglobulin superfamily proteins nephrin and Neph1 lead to congenital nephrotic syndrome in humans or mice. Neph proteins are three closely related molecules that are evolutionarily conserved and mediate cell recognition. Their importance for morphogenetic processes including the formation of the kidney filtration barrier in vertebrates and synaptogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans has recently been uncovered. However, the individual morphogenetic function of mammalian Neph1-3 isoforms remained elusive. We demonstrate now that the Neph/nephrin family proteins can form cell-cell adhesion modules across species. Expression of all three mammalian Neph isoforms partially rescued mutant C. elegans lacking their Neph homolog syg-1 and restored synapse formation, suggesting a functional redundancy between the three isoforms. Strikingly, the rescue of defective synaptic connectivity was prevented by deletion of the highly conserved cytoplasmic PSD95/Dlg/ZO-1-binding motif of SYG-1/Neph proteins, indicating the critical role of this intracellular signaling motif for SYG-1/Neph-dependent morphogenetic events. To determine the significance of Neph isoform redundancy for vertebrate kidney development, we analyzed the expression pattern and the functional role of Neph proteins in zebrafish. In situ hybridizations identified zNeph1 and zNeph2 as glomerular proteins. Morpholino knockdown of either zNeph1 or zNeph2 resulted in loss of slit diaphragms and leakiness of the glomerular filtration barrier. This is the first report utilizing C. elegans to study mammalian Neph/nephrin protein function and to demonstrate a functional overlap of Neph1-3 proteins. Furthermore, we identify Neph2 as a novel critical regulator of glomerular function, indicating that both Neph1 and Neph2 are required for glomerular maintenance and development.

Albumin-associated free fatty acids induce macropinocytosis in podocytes

Podocytes are specialized epithelial cells in the kidney glomerulus that play important structural and functional roles in maintaining the filtration barrier. Nephrotic syndrome results from a breakdown of the kidney filtration barrier and is associated with proteinuria, hyperlipidemia, and edema. Additionally, podocytes undergo changes in morphology and internalize plasma proteins in response to this disorder. Here, we used fluid-phase tracers in murine models and determined that podocytes actively internalize fluid from the plasma and that the rate of internalization is increased when the filtration barrier is disrupted. In cultured podocytes, the presence of free fatty acids (FFAs) associated with serum albumin stimulated macropinocytosis through a pathway that involves FFA receptors, the Gβ/Gγ complex, and RAC1. Moreover, mice with elevated levels of plasma FFAs as the result of a high-fat diet were more susceptible to Adriamycin-induced proteinuria than were animals on standard chow. Together, these results support a model in which podocytes sense the disruption of the filtration barrier via FFAs bound to albumin and respond by enhancing fluid-phase uptake. The response to FFAs may function in the development of nephrotic syndrome by amplifying the effects of proteinuria.

Functional Study of Mammalian Neph Proteins in Drosophila melanogaster

Neph molecules are highly conserved immunoglobulin superfamily proteins (IgSF) which are essential for multiple morphogenetic processes, including glomerular development in mammals and neuronal as well as nephrocyte development in D. melanogaster. While D. melanogaster expresses two Neph-like proteins (Kirre and IrreC/Rst), three Neph proteins (Neph1–3) are expressed in the mammalian system. However, although these molecules are highly abundant, their molecular functions are still poorly understood. Here we report on a fly system in which we overexpress and replace endogenous Neph homologs with mammalian Neph1–3 proteins to identify functional Neph protein networks required for neuronal and nephrocyte development. Misexpression of Neph1, but neither Neph2 nor Neph3, phenocopies the overexpression of endogenous Neph molecules suggesting a functional diversity of mammalian Neph family proteins. Moreover, structure-function analysis identified a conserved and specific Neph1 protein motif that appears to be required for the functional replacement of Kirre. Hereby, we establish D. melanogaster as a genetic system to specifically model molecular Neph1 functions in vivo and identify a conserved amino acid motif linking Neph1 to Drosophila Kirre function.

Targeting mTOR Signaling Can Prevent the Progression of FSGS

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is involved in a variety of kidney diseases. Clinical trials administering mTOR inhibitors to patients with FSGS, a prototypic podocyte disease, led to conflicting results, ranging from remission to deterioration of kidney function. Here, we combined complex genetic titration of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) levels in murine glomerular disease models, pharmacologic studies, and human studies to precisely delineate the role of mTOR in FSGS. mTORC1 target genes were significantly induced in microdissected glomeruli from both patients with FSGS and a murine FSGS model. Furthermore, a mouse model with constitutive mTORC1 activation closely recapitulated human FSGS. Notably, the complete knockout of mTORC1 by induced deletion of both Raptor alleles accelerated the progression of murine FSGS models. However, lowering mTORC1 signaling by deleting just one Raptor allele ameliorated the progression of glomerulosclerosis. Similarly, low-dose treatment with the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin efficiently diminished disease progression. Mechanistically, complete pharmacologic inhibition of mTOR in immortalized podocytes shifted the cellular energy metabolism toward reduced rates of oxidative phosphorylation and anaerobic glycolysis, which correlated with increased production of reactive oxygen species. Together, these data suggest that podocyte injury and loss is commonly followed by adaptive mTOR activation. Prolonged mTOR activation, however, results in a metabolic podocyte reprogramming leading to increased cellular stress and dedifferentiation, thus offering a treatment rationale for incomplete mTOR inhibition.

A Novel Domain Regulating Degradation of the Glomerular Slit Diaphragm Protein Podocin in Cell Culture Systems

Mutations in the gene NPHS2 are the most common cause of hereditary steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Its gene product, the stomatin family member protein podocin represents a core component of the slit diaphragm, a unique structure that bridges the space between adjacent podocyte foot processes in the kidney glomerulus. Dislocation and misexpression of slit diaphragm components have been described in the pathogenesis of acquired and hereditary nephrotic syndrome. However, little is known about mechanisms regulating cellular trafficking and turnover of podocin. Here, we discover a three amino acids-comprising motif regulating intracellular localization of podocin in cell culture systems. Mutations of this motif led to markedly reduced degradation of podocin. These findings give novel insight into the molecular biology of the slit diaphragm protein podocin, enabling future research to establish the biological relevance of podocin turnover and localization.