Abstract
Although no effective therapy is available to stop or reverse CKD progression targeting its key feature, the loss of peritubular capillaries (PTCs) leading to interstitial fibrosis, myeloid-derived growth factor (MYDGF) with tissue-repairing activities enlightens its therapeutic potential for CKD. However, the extremely short circulatory lifetime (15 min) restricts its application. We selected a tandem repeated (TR) region of human CD164 as a carrier to fuse with MYDGF and then investigated for biophysical and pharmacokinetic changes. The MYDGF164 bioactivities were validated in HUVECs and then assessed in HK-2 cells. We also investigated its efficacy in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-treated mice and in adenine-induced CKD rats. MYDGF164 was modified with sialoglycans, improving its resistance to serum proteases and increasing its hydrodynamic radius. The half-life of MYDGF164 was significantly prolonged but retained its original cell proliferation, anti-apoptosis, and tubulogenesis activities. It selectively stimulated the proliferation in endothelial and epithelial cells through phosphorylating MAPK1/3. MYDGF164 alleviated capillary rarefaction, hypoxia, renal fibrosis, and tubular atrophy in UUO mice and in adenine-induced CKD rats. MYDGF164 restored renal function, with normalized creatinine and urea levels in adenine-induced CKD rats. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry revealed that MYDGF164 protection was related to its cell-proliferative, anti-apoptosis, and angiogenesis activities. This study is the first successful example of using a tandem repeated region of hCD164 as a cargo protein for the pharmacokinetic improvement of therapeutic proteins. Our findings highlight the potential of MYDGF164 in alleviating renal fibrosis in CKD.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have