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Hypoxia-Inducible Factors in Acute Kidney Injury: From Pathophysiology to a Novel Approach of Organ Protection

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Studies on Renal Disorders

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Abstract

Acute kidney injury remains a major clinical problem associated with poor patient outcome and therapeutic options are still limited. The transcription of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) is a key regulator of the cellular response to hypoxia. Far more than 100 HIF target genes have been identified, including genes that have been demonstrated to protect the kidney. Although renal cells have a broad capacity to activate HIF, HIF is only sporadically stabilized in cases of acute renal injury and therefore protective effects may be limited. Newly identified inhibitors of the oxygen-sensing HIF-prolyl-hydroxylases now offer the possibility to pharmacologically stabilize HIF independent of oxygen prior to a renal insult in order to achieve protection. Thus, HIF activation appears as a promising therapeutic target for the prevention of acute kidney injury.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Krankenhausstrasse 10–12, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Wanja M. Bernhardt

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  1. Wanja M. Bernhardt
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  2. Carsten Willam
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  3. Kai-Uwe Eckardt
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Correspondence to Wanja M. Bernhardt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine and Thera, Tohoku University, Seiryo-machi 2-1, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Toshio Miyata

  2. Medizinische Klinik IV, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Krankenhausstr. 12, Erlangen, 91054, Germany

    Kai-Uwe Eckardt

  3. Graduate School of Medicine &, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Masaomi Nangaku

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Bernhardt, W.M., Willam, C., Eckardt, KU. (2011). Hypoxia-Inducible Factors in Acute Kidney Injury: From Pathophysiology to a Novel Approach of Organ Protection. In: Miyata, T., Eckardt, KU., Nangaku, M. (eds) Studies on Renal Disorders. Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-857-7_27

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