The reduction of Na/H exchanger-3 protein and transcript expression in acute ischemia–reperfusion injury is mediated by extractable tissue factor(s)

Ischemic renal injury is a formidable clinical problem, the pathophysiology of which is incompletely understood. As the Na/H exchanger-3 (NHE3) mediates the bulk of apical sodium transport and a significant fraction of oxygen consumption in the proximal tubule, we examined mechanisms by which ischemia–reperfusion affects the expression of NHE3. Ischemia–reperfusion dramatically decreased NHE3 protein and mRNA (immunohistochemistry, immunoblot, and RNA blot) in rat kidney cortex and medulla. The decrease in NHE3 protein was uniform throughout all tubules, including those appearing morphologically intact. In the kidney cortex, a decrease in NHE3 surface protein preceded that of NHE3 total protein and mRNA. Kidney homogenates from rats exposed to mild renal ischemia-reduced cell surface NHE3 protein expression in opossum kidney cells in vitro, whereas homogenates from animals with moderate-to-severe ischemia reduced both total NHE3 protein and mRNA. The decrease in total NHE3 protein was dependent on the proteasomal degradation associated with NHE3 ubiquitylation measured by coimmunoprecipitation. The transferable factor(s) from the ischemic homogenate that reduce NHE3 expression were found to be heat sensitive and to be associated with a lipid-enriched fraction, and did not include regulatory RNAs. Thus, transferable factor(s) mediate the ischemia–reperfusion injury-induced decrease in NHE3 of the kidney.