Bcl3: a regulator of NF-|[kappa]|B inducible by TWEAK in acute kidney injury with anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties in tubular cells

The inflammation associated with kidney injury stimulates the expression of a protein called Bcl3 that protects kidney cells. Therapies that induce the activity of this protein could help treat various kidney diseases. A team led by Alberto Ortiz and Maria Sanchez-Nino from the Health Research Institute of the Fundacion Jimenez Diaz in Madrid, Spain, measured the expression of genes in a key regulatory pathway of cell survival and inflammatory responses, both in mice with experimentally induced kidney injury and in cultured mouse kidney cells exposed to a pro-inflammatory molecule. They found that the gene encoding Bcl3 was highly overexpressed in both cases. Impairing Bcl3 activity led to more inflammation, loss of the anti-aging factor Klotho and cell death, whereas inducing Bcl3 activity protected against these events. These findings suggest that Bcl3 helps stop inflammatory and lethal responses in the kidney.