Targeting Immuno-senescence during kidney injury

Summary:

Our projects aim at unravelling the immune mechanisms occurring during acute kidney injury (AKI). Our group particularly focuses on macrophages during rhabdomyolysis-induced kidney injury (RM-AKI). Whereas senescence is usually associated with chronic kidney processes, we wished to explore whether senescence could also occur in AKI and whether senolytics could act on immune cells. We used Single-cell RNA sequencing in the murine glycerol-induced RM-AKI model to dissect the transcriptomic characteristics of CD45+ live cells sorted from kidneys. Public datasets from murine AKI models were reanalyzed to explore cellular senescence signature in tubular epithelial cells (TECs). A combination of senolytics (dasatinib and quercetin, DQ) was administered to mice exposed to RM-AKI, and associated with a partial renal protection. This work (Rao et al. NDT 2023) provides a proof-of-concept that senolytics nephroprotective effects may rely, at least in part, on subtle immune modulation.  

Biography:

Julie Belliere, MD-PhD, is researcher at Institut Inserm U1297 and associate Professor in Nephrology in Toulouse University Hospital. She earned her doctorate at the University Toulouse III after completing INSERM School. She was trained in the field of nephrology and immunology, and achieved the making of in-depth study of immune populations in kidney through Single-cell approaches. She currently works in Joost Schanstra’s Team, focusing on AKI mechanisms. She has authored >50 publications and obtained last year an ANR JC/JC for her projet titled TISKI (Targeting Immuno Senescence during Kidney Injury).