miRNA and mRNA Signatures in Human Acute Kidney Injury Tissue

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important contributor to the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). There is a need to understand molecular mediators that drive recovery and progression to CKD. In particular, the regulatory role of miRNAs in AKI is poorly understood. miRNA and mRNA sequencing were performed on biobanked human kidney tissues obtained in the routine care of subjects with a diagnosis of AKI, minimal change disease (MCD), or without known kidney disease in nephrectomy (Ref) tissue. mRNA analysis revealed that Ref tissues exhibited an injury signature similar to AKI, and not identified in MCD samples. The transcriptomic signature of human AKI was enriched in pathways involved in cell adhesion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and cell cycle arrest (e.g., CDH6, ITGB6, CDKN1A). In AKI, upregulation of miR-146a, miR-155, miR-142, miR-122 was associated with pathways involved in immune cell recruitment, inflammation, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. miR-122 and miR-146 are associated with downregulation of DDR2and IGFBP6, genes involved in recovery and progression of kidney disease. These data provide integrated miRNA signatures that complement mRNA and other epigenetic data available in kidney atlases.