Method Article
This protocol describes a unique method to conduct metabolic profiling of biopsy-derived kidney cells. The approach presented was optimized in healthy adult male pigs and has the potential to enhance the real-time assessment of kidney allograft viability. This method may also help uncover new biology across multiple metabolism-based kidney diseases.
Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for end-stage kidney disease; however, transplanted kidneys are often lost prematurely, with up to 50% graft loss at 10 years post-transplant. One of the major causes of premature graft loss is the injury sustained by the graft at the time of transplantation, known as ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Delayed graft function (DGF), defined as the need for dialysis in the first week post-transplant, is a manifestation of severe IRI that shows functional and histologic features of acute kidney injury (AKI). While the mechanisms driving AKI remain unclear, accumulating evidence suggests that altered metabolic function in the allograft mediates AKI and may be the reason for DGF. Thus, deciphering and monitoring the metabolic underpinnings of IRI will improve our capacity to diagnose and prevent AKI. This article describes a unique method to assess mitochondrial respiration (by means of oxygen consumption rate), glycolysis (extracellular acidification rate), and intracellular ATP levels in needle biopsy-derived kidney cell suspensions. The methodology has been optimized in healthy adult male pigs and validated in a porcine model of auto-transplantation. The approach presented has the potential to enhance the real-time assessment of kidney allograft viability in the clinic. Profiling metabolism in patient-derived biopsies may also uncover new biology in other metabolism-based kidney diseases.
Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for end-stage kidney disease1,2,3,4; however, transplanted kidneys are often lost prematurely, with up to 50% graft loss at 10 years post-transplant5. Affected patients have increased morbidity and mortality and pose a major economic burden on healthcare systems6. A major cause of premature graft loss is the injury sustained by the graft at the time of transplantation, known as ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). IRI is an unavoidable injury caused by diminished blood flow, followed by reperfusion7. Ischemia is characterized by tissue succinate accumulation, which drives reverse electron flow in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, leading to superoxide production and subsequent injury early after reperfusion8. IRI in transplanted organs increases the risk of primary non-function, delayed graft function (DGF), rejection, and inferior graft outcomes8,9. DGF, defined as the need for dialysis in the first week post-transplant9, is a manifestation of severe IRI10. Histologically, IRI-associated DGF is manifested as acute tubular necrosis (ATN), and injury to the microvasculature. Functionally, there is a decrease in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urine output, features of acute kidney injury (AKI) in the allograft11. Despite its importance, there are currently no treatments for ischemia-reperfusion-associated post-transplant AKI. The lack of treatments stems from an incomplete understanding of disease mechanisms and a lack of markers to identify patients at the highest risk of graft dysfunction during the critical time points in which injury may be reversible12.
Accumulating evidence suggests that altered energy metabolism in the allograft mediates AKI and may underpin DGF13,14,15. Kidney cells generate energy via two major mechanisms: mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis16. In IRI, reperfusion results in mitochondrial dysfunction17. Consequently, glycolysis becomes the main energy source13,18,19,20. The metabolic shift in IRI promotes tubular and microvascular endothelial cell death, leading to AKI21,22,23,24. In a previous work, ATN was associated with increased expression of glycolytic enzymes and altered levels of mitochondrial proteins25, in keeping with IRI in the graft13,18. Moreover, in a porcine kidney auto-transplantation model, ischemia followed by cold storage led to reduced levels of kidney mitochondrial proteins and increased lactate excretion26. Altogether, these findings solidify the clinical importance of monitoring the metabolic phenotype of kidney allografts, even before transplant, since basal metabolic features in the allograft can be predictive of allograft dysfunction27.
Clinical prediction models of short-term risk of allograft rejection and loss have been developed28,29. However, these models lack precision and do not consider the molecular features of the graft30,31,32. Recent studies aimed to address this unmet need through the identification of molecular patterns at the tissue level that are associated with inferior graft outcomes, such as allograft dysfunction and rejection13,14,15,25,33,34. These studies rely on steady state molecular measurements at the gene33,34,35, protein25,26, and metabolite level13,14, leaving an incomplete picture of the metabolic phenotype of the allograft. This gap in knowledge is partly due to an inability to measure the metabolic function and the energy state of kidney-derived samples at a particular moment in time. The development of a standardized protocol to determine the metabolic phenotype of biopsy-derived kidney cells, which can potentially be translated into the study of patient samples, is warranted. This article describes a unique workflow to assess mitochondrial respiration (by means of oxygen consumption rate), glycolysis (extracellular acidification rate), and intracellular ATP levels in biopsy-derived kidney cell suspensions. The methodology has been optimized using kidney biopsy cores from healthy adult male pigs. To facilitate future clinical implementation, the biopsy cores were obtained using an 18 G needle, as in the standard clinical protocols of renal graft sampling36,37. Finally, the utility of the protocol implementation in discriminating experimental conditions had been validated in a porcine model of auto-transplantation.
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This protocol has been approved by the Animal Care Committee of the Toronto General Research Institute (Animal Use Protocol number: 3652). Animals were cared for in accordance with the National Society of Medical Research and Guide for the care of laboratory animals, National Institute of Health (NIH), Ontario, Canada. Five 3-month-old male Yorkshire pigs, weighing approximately 30 kg each, were used in this study. The protocol for this methodology is subdivided into the following steps: (1) Dissociation of single kidney biopsy cores into cell suspensions; (2) Metabolic profiling of biopsy-derived kidney cells; and (3) Measurement of ATP content in biopsy-derived kidney cells. All biopsy samples collected for metabolic function or ATP content measurements were dissociated within 3 h of retrieval in a biosafety cabinet. The workflow of the methodology is shown in Figure 1. The reagents and the equipment used are listed in the Table of Materials.
1. Dissociation of single kidney biopsy cores into cell suspensions
2. Metabolic profiling of biopsy-derived kidney cells
NOTE: The metabolic profiling step integrates the measurement of glycolysis (ECAR) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in a metabolic function analyzer, as well as the intracellular ATP levels using a commercial kit.
3. Measurement of ATP content in biopsy-derived kidney cells
NOTE: Measure the amount of ATP in biopsy-derived kidney cells using the specified ATP detection reagent and recombinant ATP (rATP) standard (see Table of Materials).
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The workflow was tested in biopsy-derived kidney cells from healthy 3-month-old male Yorkshire pigs. The protocol for tissue dissociation and cell plating was followed as outlined above. After letting the cells adhere for 16 h, OCR and ECAR were measured in real-time in the biopsy-derived porcine kidney cells using a metabolic function analyzer, as markers of mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis, respectively.
The first experiment aimed to determine the optimal seeding density for confiden...
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This article describes a unique method to assess the metabolic function of kidney cells obtained from biopsies. A protocol for obtaining single-cell suspensions from fresh core renal biopsies was coupled with an analysis of metabolic function and intracellular ATP levels. Glycolysis is assessed by measuring ECAR, and mitochondrial respiration by measuring OCR. Porine kidney biopsies were used to optimize the methodology.
To effectively study the bioenergetic function in cells obtained via<...
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None of the co-authors has competing financial interests or other conflicts of interest to disclose.
AK was supported by the University Health Network Foundation (awards 579067450776, 579072310776, and 579068260776). SC-F was supported by the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) program (2019KPPDF637713 and 24KNIA-1291062).
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| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Deoxy-D-glucose | Sigma | D6134 | Competitive inhibitor of glycolysis |
| 5 mL Round Bottom Polystyrene Test Tube, with Cell Strainer Snap Cap | Falcon | 352235 | Dissociation tubes |
| Antimycin A from Streptomyces sp. | Sigma | A8674 | Inhibitor of complex III of the respiratory chain |
| AOF BP Protease | VitaCyte | 003-1000 | Dissociation enzyme |
| Carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy) phenylhydrazone (FCCP) | Sigma | C2920 | Uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation |
| CellTiter-Glo 2.0 Assay, 100mL | Promega | G9242 | Measurement of intracellular ATP |
| Collagenase MA | VitaCyte | 001-2030 | Dissociation enzyme |
| CyQUANT Cell Proliferation Assay, for cells in culture | Invitrogen | C7026 | Measurement of intracellular DNA |
| D-GLUCOSE, Anhydrous, Reagent Grade | Bioshop | GLU501 | Metabolic substrate |
| DNase I | Stemcell | 07469 | Dissociation enzyme |
| Fetal Bovine Serum, Premium, US Origin, Heat Inactivated, 500 mL | Wisent | 080-450 | Dissociation media supplement |
| L-Glutamine-200 mM (100x) liquid (100 mL) | Gibco | 25030081 | Metabolic substrate |
| Oligomycin A | Sigma | 75351 | Inhibitor of the ATP synthase |
| PBS, -/-, 500 mL | Wisent | 311-010-CL | Cell wash |
| rATP, 10 mM, 0?5 mL | Promega | P1132 | Measurement of intracellular ATP |
| Rotenone | Sigma | R8875 | Inhibitor of complex I of the respiratory chain |
| RPMI 1640 | Gibco | 11875119 | Dissociation media |
| Seahorse Wave Controller Software 2.6 | Agilent | N/A | Set up of metabolic function measurements |
| Seahorse Wave Desktop Software 2.6 | Agilent | N/A | Analysis of metabolic function data |
| Seahorse XF base medium, without phenol red, 500 mL | Agilent | 103335-100 | Measurement of metabolic function |
| Seahorse XFe96 FluxPak (20 plates, 18 cartridges, and 500mL of calibrant solution) | Agilent | 102416-100 | Measurement of metabolic function |
| Seahorse XFe96 metabolic function analyzer | Agilent | 101991-100 | Measurement of metabolic function |
| Sodium Pyruvate Solution 100 mM (100X), liquid 100 mL | Gibco | 11360070 | Metabolic substrate |
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