Targeting succinate dehydrogenase with malonate ester prodrugs decreases renal ischemia reperfusion injury

Renal ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury leads to significant patient morbidity and mortality, and its amelioration is an urgent unmet clinical need. Succinate accumulates during ischemia and its oxidation by the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) drives the ROS production that underlies IR injury. Consequently, compounds that inhibit SDH may have therapeutic potential against renal IR injury. Among these, the competitive SDH inhibitor malonate, administered as a cell-permeable malonate ester prodrug, has shown promise in models of cardiac IR injury, but the efficacy of malonate ester prodrugs against renal IR injury have not been investigated. Here we show that succinate accumulates during ischemia in mouse, pig and human models of renal IR injury, and that its rapid oxidation by SDH upon reperfusion drives IR injury. We then show that the malonate ester prodrug, dimethyl malonate (DMM), can ameliorate renal IR injury when administered at reperfusion but not prior to ischemia in the mouse. Finally, we show that another malonate ester prodrug, diacetoxymethyl malonate (MAM), is more potent than DMM because of its faster esterase hydrolysis. Our data show that the mitochondrial mechanisms of renal IR injury are conserved in the mouse, pig and human and that inhibition of SDH by ‘tuned’ malonate ester prodrugs, such as MAM, is a promising therapeutic strategy in the treatment of clinical renal IR injury. [Display omitted] •Accumulation of succinate during renal ischemia is conserved across species.•Succinate dehydrogenase is a key therapeutic target in renal ischemia-reperfusion.•Malonate may inhibit succinate dehydrogenase during ischemia and on reperfusion.•Ester prodrugs enable delivery of malonate to succinate dehydrogenase in vivo.•Malonate ester prodrugs may be ‘fine-tuned’ to optimise their delivery and efficacy.