TOPK Activation Exerts Protective Effects on Cisplatin-induced Acute Kidney Injury

• Published in: Current medical science Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 742 - 753
• Main Authors: Zhang, Hui, Dong, Qing-qing, Shu, Hua-pan, Tu, Yu-chi, Liao, Qian-qian, Yao, Li-jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wuhan Huazhong University of Science and Technology 01-08-2022; Department of Nephrology,Union Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430022,China
• Subjects: Acute Kidney Injury - chemically induced; Acute Kidney Injury - drug therapy; Acute Kidney Injury - prevention & control; Animals; Apoptosis; Cisplatin - adverse effects; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - genetics; apoptosis; acute kidney injury; cisplatin; cell cycle; T-LAK-cell-originated protein kinase/PSD95-Disc large-ZO1 binding kinase
• ISSN: 2096-5230; 1672-0733; 2523-899X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-022-2545-0

Objective
T-LAK-cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK), a PSD95-Disc large-ZO1 (PDZ) binding kinase (PBK), is a novel member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family. Studies have shown that TOPK plays a critical role in the function of tumor cells, including apoptosis and mitosis. However, little is known on the effect of TOPK in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (CP-AKI). This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of TOPK in CP-AKI.
Methods
Cisplatin was administered to C57BL/6 mice and cultured kidney tubular epithelial cells (TECs) to establish the CP-AKI murine or cellular models. TECs were then stimulated with the specific inhibitor of TOPK OTS514 or transfected with the recombinant-activated plasmid TOPK-T9E to inhibit or activate TOPK. The TECs were treated with AKT inhibitor VIII following stimulation with OTS514 or cisplatin. Western blotting and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the cell cycle and apoptosis of TECs.
Results
The analysis revealed that the TOPK activity was significantly suppressed by cisplatin, both
in vivo
and
in vitro
. Furthermore, the pharmacological inhibition of TOPK by OTS514, a specific inhibitor of TOPK, exacerbated the cisplatin-induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and apoptosis of cultured TECs. Moreover, the TOPK activation via the TOPK-T9E plasmid transfection could partially reverse the cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and apoptosis of cisplatin-treated TECs. In addition, AKT/protein kinase B (PKB), as a TOPK target protein, was inhibited by cisplatin in cultured TECs. The pharmaceutical inhibition of AKT further aggravated the apoptosis of TECs induced by cisplatin or TOPK inhibition. TOPK systematically mediated the apoptosis via the AKT pathway in the CP-AKI cell model.
Conclusion
These results indicate that TOPK activation protects against CP-AKI by ameliorating the G2/M cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis.