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Ichimura, Takaharu

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Ichimura

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Takaharu

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Ichimura, Takaharu

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Ischemia augments alloimmune injury through IL-6-driven CD4+ alloreactivity
    (Nature Publishing Group UK, 2018) Uehara, Mayuko; Solhjou, Zhabiz; Banouni, Naima; Kasinath, Vivek; Xiaqun, Ye; Dai, Li; Yilmam, Osman; Yilmaz, Mine; Ichimura, Takaharu; Fiorina, Paolo; Martins, Paulo N.; Ohori, Shunsuke; Guleria, Indira; Maarouf, Omar H.; Tullius, Stefan; McGrath, Martina; Abdi, Reza
    Ischemia reperfusion injuries (IRI) are unavoidable in solid organ transplantation. IRI augments alloimmunity but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Herein, we examined the effect of IRI on antigen specific alloimmunity. We demonstrate that ischemia promotes alloimmune activation, leading to more severe histological features of rejection, and increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell graft infiltration, with a predominantly CD8+ IFNγ+ infiltrate. This process is dependent on the presence of alloreactive CD4+ T cells, where depletion prevented infiltration of ischemic grafts by CD8+ IFNγ+ T cells. IL-6 is a known driver of ischemia-induced rejection. Herein, depletion of donor antigen-presenting cells reduced ischemia-induced CD8+ IFNγ+ allograft infiltration, and improved allograft outcomes. Following prolonged ischemia, accelerated rejection was observed despite treatment with CTLA4Ig, indicating that T cell costimulatory blockade failed to overcome the immune activating effect of IRI. However, despite severe ischemic injury, treatment with anti-IL-6 and CTLA4Ig blocked IRI-induced alloimmune injury and markedly improved allograft survival. We describe a novel pathway where IRI activates innate immunity, leading to upregulation of antigen specific alloimmunity, resulting in chronic allograft injury. Based on these findings, we describe a clinically relevant treatment strategy to overcome the deleterious effect of IRI, and provide superior long-term allograft outcomes.
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    Positive effects of a novel non-peptidyl low molecular weight radical scavenger in renal ischemia/reperfusion: a preliminary report
    (Springer International Publishing, 2014) Bassi, Roberto; Vergani, Andrea; D’Addio, Francesca; Nasr, Moufida Ben; Mocci, Alessio; Rastaldi, Maria Pia; Ichimura, Takaharu; Vincent Bonventre, Joseph; Fiorina, Paolo
    Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is one of the most common causes of acute kidney injury. Reactive oxygen species have been recognized to be an important contributor to the pathogenesis of I/R injury. We hypothesize that a non-peptidyl low molecular weight radical scavenger (IAC) therapy may counteract this factor, ultimately providing some protection after acute phase renal I/R injury. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess the ability of IAC to reduce acute kidney injury in C57BL/6 mice after 30-minute of bilateral ischemia followed by reperfusion. The rise in serum creatinine level was higher in C57BL/6 control mice after I/R when compared to IAC (1 mg)-treated mice. Control mice showed greater body weight loss compared to IAC-treated mice, and at pathology, reduced signs of tubular necrosis were also evident in IAC-treated mice. These preliminary evidences lay the basis for more comprehensive studies on the positive effects of IAC as a complementary therapeutic approach for acute phase renal I/R injury.
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    Targeted Delivery of Immunomodulators to Lymph Nodes
    (2016) Azzi, Jamil; Yin, Qian; Uehara, Mayuko; Ohori, Shunsuke; Tang, Li; Cai, Kaimin; Ichimura, Takaharu; McGrath, Martina; Maarouf, Omar; Kefaloyianni, Eirini; Loughhead, Scott; Petr, Jarolim; Sun, Qidi; Kwon, Mincheol; Tullius, Stefan; von Andrian-Werburg, Ulrich; Cheng, Jianjun; Abdi, Reza
    SUMMARY Active-targeted delivery to lymph nodes represents a major advance toward more effective treatment of immune-mediated disease. The MECA79 antibody recognizes peripheral node address in molecules expressed by high endothelial venules of lymph nodes. By mimicking lymphocyte trafficking to the lymph nodes, we have engineered MECA79-coated microparticles containing an immunosuppressive medication, tacrolimus. Following intravenous administration, MECA79-bearing particles showed marked accumulation in the draining lymph nodes of transplanted animals. Using an allograft heart transplant model, we show that targeted lymph node delivery of microparticles containing tacrolimus can prolong heart allograft survival with negligible changes in tacrolimus serum level. Using MECA79 conjugation, we have demonstrated targeted delivery of tacrolimus to the lymph nodes following systemic administration, with the capacity for immune modulation in vivo.
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    Meclizine Preconditioning Protects the Kidney Against Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury
    (Elsevier, 2015) Kishi, Seiji; Campanholle, Gabriela; Gohil, Vishal M.; Perocchi, Fabiana; Brooks, Craig R.; Morizane, Ryuji; Sabbisetti, Venkata; Ichimura, Takaharu; Mootha, Vamsi; Bonventre, Joseph
    Global or local ischemia contributes to the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury (AKI). Currently there are no specific therapies to prevent AKI. Potentiation of glycolytic metabolism and attenuation of mitochondrial respiration may decrease cell injury and reduce reactive oxygen species generation from the mitochondria. Meclizine, an over-the-counter anti-nausea and -dizziness drug, was identified in a ‘nutrient-sensitized’ chemical screen. Pretreatment with 100 mg/kg of meclizine, 17 h prior to ischemia protected mice from IRI. Serum creatinine levels at 24 h after IRI were 0.13 ± 0.06 mg/dl (sham, n = 3), 1.59 ± 0.10 mg/dl (vehicle, n = 8) and 0.89 ± 0.11 mg/dl (meclizine, n = 8). Kidney injury was significantly decreased in meclizine treated mice compared with vehicle group (p < 0.001). Protection was also seen when meclizine was administered 24 h prior to ischemia. Meclizine reduced inflammation, mitochondrial oxygen consumption, oxidative stress, mitochondrial fragmentation, and tubular injury. Meclizine preconditioned kidney tubular epithelial cells, exposed to blockade of glycolytic and oxidative metabolism with 2-deoxyglucose and NaCN, had reduced LDH and cytochrome c release. Meclizine upregulated glycolysis in glucose-containing media and reduced cellular ATP levels in galactose-containing media. Meclizine inhibited the Kennedy pathway and caused rapid accumulation of phosphoethanolamine. Phosphoethanolamine recapitulated meclizine-induced protection both in vitro and in vivo.
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    Regulatory mechanisms of anthrax toxin receptor 1-dependent vascular and connective tissue homeostasis
    (2015) Besschetnova, Tatiana; Ichimura, Takaharu; Katebi, Negin; St. Croix, Brad; Bonventre, Joseph; Olsen, Bjorn
    It is well known that angiogenesis is linked to fibrotic processes in fibroproliferative diseases, but insights into pathophysiological processes are limited, due to lack of understanding of molecular mechanisms controlling endothelial and fibroblastic homeostasis. We demonstrate here that the matrix receptor anthrax toxin receptor 1 (ANTXR1), also known as tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8), is an essential component of these mechanisms. Loss of TEM8 function in mice causes reduced synthesis of endothelial basement membrane components and hyperproliferative and leaky blood vessels in skin. In addition, endothelial cell alterations in mutants are almost identical to those of endothelial cells in infantile hemangioma lesions, including activated VEGF receptor signaling in endothelial cells, increased expression of the downstream targets VEGF and CXCL12, and increased numbers of macrophages and mast cells. In contrast, loss of TEM8 in fibroblasts leads to increased rates of synthesis of fiber-forming collagens, resulting in progressive fibrosis in skin and other organs. Compromised interactions between TEM8-deficient endothelial and fibroblastic cells cause dramatic reduction in the activity of the matrix-degrading enzyme MMP2. In addition to insights into mechanisms of connective tissue homeostasis, our data provide molecular explanations for vascular and connective tissue abnormalities in GAPO syndrome, caused by loss-of-function mutations in ANTXR1. Furthermore, the loss of MMP2 activity suggests that fibrotic skin abnormalities in GAPO syndrome are, in part, the consequence of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying syndromes (NAO, Torg and Winchester) with multicentric skin nodulosis and osteolysis caused by homozygous loss-of-function mutations in MMP2.
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    Kim-1/Tim-1 and Immune Cells: Shifting Sands
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2012) Ichimura, Takaharu; Brooks, Craig R.; Bonventre, Joseph
    Kim-1/Tim-1 is an apoptotic-cell phagocytosis and scavenger receptor that is most highly upregulated in proximal tubular epithelium in acute and chronic kidney injury. While Kim-1/Tim-1 has been proposed to be a costimulatory molecule for immune cells, its potential immunological role has been controversial. In the presence of very high epithelial cell expression understanding the influence of immune cell Kim-1/Tim-1 expression in kidney injury relies on a better definition of its functional significance in immune cells and better characterization of antibodies used to probe function.
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    Targeted Proximal Tubule Injury Triggers Interstitial Fibrosis and Glomerulosclerosis
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2012) Grgic, Ivica; Campanholle, Gabriela; Bijol, Vanesa; Wang, Chang; Sabbisetti, Venkata; Ichimura, Takaharu; Humphreys, Benjamin D.; Bonventre, Joseph
    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains one of the leading causes of death in the developed world and acute kidney injury (AKI) is now recognized as a major risk factor in its development. Understanding the factors leading to CKD after acute injury are limited by current animal models of AKI which concurrently target various kidney cell types such as epithelial, endothelial and inflammatory cells. Here we developed a mouse model of kidney injury using the Six2-Cre-LoxP technology to selectively activate expression of the simian diphtheria toxin receptor in renal epithelia derived from the metanephric mesenchyme. By adjusting the timing and dose of diphtheria toxin a highly selective model of tubular injury was created to define the acute and chronic consequences of isolated epithelial injury. The diphtheria toxin-induced sublethal tubular epithelial injury was confined to the S1 and S2 segments of the proximal tubule rather than being widespread in the metanephric mesenchyme derived epithelial lineage. Acute injury was promptly followed by inflammatory cell infiltration and robust tubular cell proliferation leading to complete recovery after a single toxin insult. In striking contrast, three insults to renal epithelial cells at one week intervals resulted in maladaptive repair with interstitial capillary loss, fibrosis and glomerulosclerosis which was highly correlated with the degree of interstitial fibrosis. Thus, selective epithelial injury can drive the formation of interstitial fibrosis, capillary rarefaction and potentially glomerulosclerosis, substantiating a direct role for damaged tubule epithelium in the pathogenesis of CKD.
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    Secreted Factors from Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Upregulate IL-10 and Reverse Acute Kidney Injury
    (Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2012) Yarmush, Joshua S.; Milwid, John Miles; Ichimura, Takaharu; Li, Matthew; Jiao, Joy; Lee, Jungwoo; Parekkadan, Biju; Tilles, Arno W.; Bonventre, Joseph; Yarmush, Martin
    Acute kidney injury is a devastating syndrome that afflicts over 2,000,000 people in the US per year, with an associated mortality of greater than 70% in severe cases. Unfortunately, standard-of-care treatments are not sufficient for modifying the course of disease. Many groups have explored the use of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) for the treatment of AKI because BMSCs have been shown to possess unique anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective, and regenerative properties in vitro and in vivo. It is yet unresolved whether the primary mechanisms controlling BMSC therapy in AKI depend on direct cell infusion, or whether BMSC-secreted factors alone are sufficient for mitigating the injury. Here we show that BMSC-secreted factors are capable of providing a survival benefit to rats subjected to cisplatin-induced AKI. We observed that when BMSC-conditioned medium (BMSC-CM) is administered intravenously, it prevents tubular apoptosis and necrosis and ameliorates AKI. In addition, we observed that BMSC-CM causes IL-10 upregulation in treated animals, which is important to animal survival and protection of the kidney. In all, these results demonstrate that BMSC-secreted factors are capable of providing support without cell transplantation, and the IL-10 increase seen in BMSC-CM-treated animals correlates with attenuation of severe AKI.
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    Loss of Leucine-rich Repeat Kinase 2 Causes Age-dependent Bi-phasic Alterations of the Autophagy Pathway
    (BioMed Central, 2012) Tong, Youren; Giaime, Emilie; Yamaguchi, Hiroo; Ichimura, Takaharu; Liu, Yumin; Si, Huiqing; Cai, Huaibin; Bonventre, Joseph; Shen, Jie
    Background: Dominantly inherited missense mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson's disease, but its normal physiological function remains unclear. We previously reported that loss of LRRK2 causes impairment of protein degradation pathways as well as increases of apoptotic cell death and inflammatory responses in the kidney of aged mice. Results: Our analysis of LRRK2-/- kidneys at multiple ages, such as 1, 4, 7, and 20 months, revealed unique age-dependent development of a variety of molecular, cellular, and ultrastructural changes. Gross morphological abnormalities of the kidney, including altered size, weight, texture, and color, are evident in LRRK2-/- mice at 3-4 months of age, along with increased accumulation of autofluorescent granules in proximal renal tubules. The ratio of kidney/body weight in LRRK2-/- mice is increased at 1, 4, and 7 months of age (\( \sim 10 \%\) at 1 month, and (\( \sim20\%\) at 4 and 7 months), whereas the ratio is drastically decreased at 20 months of age (\( \sim50\%\)). While kidney filtration function evaluated by levels of blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine is not significantly affected in LRRK2-/- mice at 12-14 months of age, expression of kidney injury molecule-1, a sensitive and specific biomarker for epithelial cell injury of proximal renal tubules, is up-regulated (\( \sim 10-fold\)). Surprisingly, loss of LRRK2 causes age-dependent bi-phasic alterations of the autophagic activity in LRRK2-/- kidneys, which is unchanged at 1 month of age, enhanced at 7 months but reduced at 20 months, as evidenced by corresponding changes in the levels of LC3-I/II, a reliable autophagy marker, and p62, an autophagy substrate. Levels of α-synuclein and protein carbonyls, a general oxidative damage marker, are also decreased in LRRK2-/- kidneys at 7 months of age but increased at 20 months. Interestingly, the age-dependent bi-phasic alterations in autophagic activity in LRRK2-/- kidneys is accompanied by increased levels of lysosomal proteins and proteases at 1, 7, and 20 months of age as well as progressive accumulation of autolysosomes and lipofuscin granules at 4, 7-10, and 20 months of age. Conclusions: LRRK2 is important for the dynamic regulation of autophagy function in vivo.