Proximal convoluted tubule cells-derived exosomes attenuate aging-related vascular dysfunction

Abstract

Aging is an identified risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Aging is associated with increased prevalence of endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffening. Exosomes are bi-lipid nanoscale vesicles that play important roles in intercellular communications. The purpose of this study was to determine whether administration of renal proximal convoluted tubule cells (PCT)-derived exosomes affects vascular and renal function in aging mice. Aging (24 months old) and young mice (3 months old) were treated with PCT-derived exosomes via non-invasive injection into the kidney 3 times a week for 2 weeks. Administration of PCT-derived exosomes did not affect blood pressure or urinary Na+, K+, and Ca2+ excretions, indicating that PCT-derived exosomes did not affect kidney function. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was increased in aging mice, indicating arterial stiffening. Interestingly, treatment with PCT-exosomes effectively reduced aging-associated arterial stiffening. In addition, aortic endothelium-dependent relaxing (EDR) responses to acetylcholine (Ach) were reduced in aging mice, indicating endothelial dysfunction. Treatment with PCT-derived exosomes rescued aging-associated aortic endothelial dysfunction. Mechanistically, aortic expression of VCAM1, ICAM1, TNFα, and MCP-1 was upregulated in aging mice, indicating vascular inflammation. Notably, aging-associated vascular inflammation was largely attenuated by delivery of PCT-derived exosomes. Our results suggest that PCT-derived exosomes improves aging-associated arterial stiffening and vascular dysfunction partly via inhibiting vascular inflammation. The findings may help develop novel therapeutic strategies for aging-associated vascular dysfunction using PCT-derived exosomes. This work is supported by NIH research grants R01 HL154147 and AG062375. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.