Pkd1 Mutation Has No Apparent Effects on Peroxisome Structure or Lipid Metabolism

Multiple studies of tissue and cell samples from patients and preclinical models of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease report abnormal mitochondrial function and morphology and suggest metabolic reprogramming is an intrinsic feature of this disease. Peroxisomes interact with mitochondria physically and functionally, and congenital peroxisome biogenesis disorders can cause various phenotypes, including mitochondrial defects, metabolic abnormalities, and renal cysts. We hypothesized that a peroxisomal defect might contribute to the metabolic and mitochondrial impairments observed in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Using control and kidney epithelial cells, we investigated peroxisome abundance, biogenesis, and morphology by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and live cell imaging of peroxisome-related proteins and assayed peroxisomal specific -oxidation. We further analyzed fatty acid composition by mass spectrometry in kidneys of mice. We also evaluated peroxisome lipid metabolism in published metabolomics datasets of mutant cells and kidneys. Lastly, we investigated if the C terminus or full-length polycystin-1 colocalize with peroxisome markers by imaging studies. Peroxisome abundance, morphology, and peroxisome-related protein expression in cells were normal, suggesting preserved peroxisome biogenesis. Peroxisomal -oxidation was not impaired in cells, and there was no obvious accumulation of very-long-chain fatty acids in kidneys of mutant mice. Reanalysis of published datasets provide little evidence of peroxisomal abnormalities in independent sets of mutant cells and cystic kidneys, and provide further evidence of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation defects. Imaging studies with either full-length polycystin-1 or its C terminus, a fragment previously shown to go to the mitochondria, showed minimal colocalization with peroxisome markers restricted to putative mitochondrion-peroxisome contact sites. Our studies showed that loss of does not disrupt peroxisome biogenesis nor peroxisome-dependent fatty acid metabolism.