Different roles of bortezomib and ONX 0914 in acute kidney injury

Proteasome inhibitor bortezomib offers one more option for acute or chronic antibody-mediated rejection after kidney transplantation, but aggravated acute kidney injury (AKI) in some cases early after surgery using bortezomib bring new problem. Here, we evaluated the effects of bortezomib and ONX-0914 on renal tubule injury in a mouse model of ischemia–reperfusion injury. After treated with bortezomib, serum creatinine, usea nitrogen and tubular necrosis significantly increased compared with vehicle-treated mice, but decreased in ONX-0914 group mildly. Infiltration of neutrophil and macrophage were less in bortezomib and ONX-0914-treated mice than vehicle-treated group, and the same was observed on oxidative stress in the kidneys. Furthermore, the apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells increased in bortezomib-treated mice’ kidneys compared with ONX-0914 and vehicle-treated controls. In vitro HK2 cell experiments also demonstrated the proapoptotic effect of bortezomib. The mRNA expression of several proapoptotic factors increased in kidneys of bortezomib-treated mice. In brief, bortezomib, as a proteasome inhibitor, shows a certain cytotoxicity to renal tubular epithelial cell during ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) through increased apoptosis. ONX-0914, as an immunoproteasome inhibitor, showed equal potency on anti-inflammation and oxidative stress relieving compared with bortezomib, while less cytotoxicity. The results render the immunoproteasome is a better target for anti-rejection and protecting kidney function in the field of organ transplantation.