Animals
C57BL/6J male mice (8- to 12-week-old, weighing 18-22g) were purchased from the laboratory animal center of Army Medical University. Animals were housed in a humidity- and temperature-controlled animal facility in the central laboratory of southwest hospital with a 12-hour light-dark cycle for at least 7 days before induction of renal ischemia reperfusion. Food and water were freely accessible. All the experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Care Committee of Army Medical University and in compliance with the National Institutes of Health’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
Surgical procedure and groups
A renal ischemia reperfusion injury model was performed in mice with bilateral renal pedicles clamped as described previously [15]. Briefly, all mice were anesthetized with 1.5% isoflurane and placed on a heating pad to maintain the temperature at 36 ± 0.1℃. A midline abdominal incision was made. The sterile swabs were used to expose the bilateral renal pedicles. The pedicles were clamped for 60 min with the microvascular clamps followed by reperfusion for 24 hrs. Dex (Orion Pharma, Espoo, Finland) and α2-adrenergic antagonist Atip (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) were administrated or not used in the following groups. Sham group (Sham): underwent laparotomy without bilateral renal blood flow obstructions. Dex group (Dex): Dex was intraperitoneally injected at 25 μg/kg without laparotomy. Renal ischemia reperfusion injury group (RIR): bilateral renal pedicles were clamped for 60 min and then kidney blood flow was recovered for 24 hrs. Pretreatment with Dex group (Dex + RIR): Dex 25 μg/kg was intraperitoneally injected at 15 min prior to renal ischemia. Combination of the atipamezole group (Atip + Dex + RIR): Atip 250 μg/kg was intraperitoneally injected 10 min prior to Dex pretreatment.
Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining
At 24 hrs after RIR, animals were euthanized and perfused with saline through right atrium till the lung tissue turned white. Lungs were harvested and paraffin embedded, then the lung tissues were cut into 5-μm thick sections. Sections were stained with hematoxylin/eosin, then examined under a light microscope. The degree of lung injury was scored on a scale from 0 to 3 using a previously described scoring system: Grade 0, normal pulmonary appearance; Grade 1, mild moderate interstitial congestion and neutrophil leukocyte infiltrations; Grade 2, perivascular edema formation, partial leukocyte infiltration, moderate neutrophil leukocyte infiltration; Grade 3, severe destruction of the lung architecture and massive neutrophil leukocyte infiltration.
Arterial blood gas analysis
Arterial blood samples were obtained for blood gas analysis. A 0.5 ml sample of arterial blood was drawn from the abdominal aorta. pH, partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) were measured at the end of the reperfusion period with a blood gas analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Inc., USA)
Isolation of AMs from murine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and treatment
At 24 hrs after renal ischemia reperfusion, animals were anesthetized with isoflurane (3%, mask inhalation), and a midline cervical incision was made. Gently blunt dissection was used to expose the airway, and a small incision (<2mm) was made on the trachea posterior to the larynx. Inserted a 22G catheter without a needle into the trachea towards the lungs and secured the catheter with a silk braided suture (4-0; non-absorbable) with a square knot. 0.8 ml ice-cold BALF buffer (Ca2+ and Mg2+ free /PBS + Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA1mM) was slowly perfused into the lungs. Keep the buffer in the lung for 5 seconds and then aspirate the fluid, repeat for 2 more times and pool the lavage fluid. Then euthanize the mouse by an approved protocol. Centrifuge the approximately 3 ml BALF at 300g for 5 min at 4℃. The cell pellet was collected, and the supernatant was stored at -80℃.The collected cells from BALF was resuspended and cell counting was performed with a cell count analyzer (ThermoFisher). Alveolar macrophage ratios were analyzed by flow cytometry, and macrophage polarization-related indicators were detected by immunofluorescence and western-blot.
Protein array
Inflammatory mediators in BALF and lung tissue were assessed respectively with LEGENDplextm mouse macrophage/microglia panel (Biolegend) and mouse inflammation array Q1 (Raybiotech) at 24 hrs after RIR according to the instruction from manufacturer.
Cell culture and treatment
The murine alveolar macrophages cell line (MH-S) were cultured with RPMI 1640 medium which contains 15% fetal serum at 37℃ and 5% CO2. Cells were incubated with or without Atip 1μM for 3 hrs before pre-administrated with 0.1 μM Dex for 1 hr. Then replace the medium with normal or RIR serum for another 24 hrs.
Flow cytometry
Cells collected from BALF were resuspended in Cell Staining Buffer (Biolegend Cat. No. 420201). Then TruStain FcX™ PLUS (anti-mouse CD16/32) Antibody (Biolegend, Inc. Cat. No. 156603) was used for blocking non-specific binding of immunoglobulin to the Fc receptors. After cell-surface staining with FITC anti-mouse CD11c and PerCP anti-mouse/human CD11b antibody (Biolegend, Inc.; Cat. No. 117305,No. 101229 respectively), flow cytometric analysis was performed with Agilent NovoCyteTM and analyzed by NovoExpressTM.
Immunofluorescence staining and quantification
Cell samples were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PB for 20 min at room temperature. Then, samples were washed with PBS, permeabilized, blocked, and stained with primary antibody and then secondary fluorescence-conjugated antibody. Nuclei were stained by DAPI. Images were visualized with a confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss GmbH, Oberkochen, Germany). The antibodies used were as follows: rabbit polyclonal anti-iNOS (1:100; Abcam), goat polyclonal anti-Arg1 (1:200; Abcam), donkey anti-rabbit secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 647, donkey anti-goat secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 488 (1:500; all from Abcam).
Western blot
The lung tissues were harvested at the end of the experiment. Total proteins were extracted from tissue utilizing RIPA lysis buffer. After determining the concentration of protein by bicinchoninic acid assay (Thermo Fisher Scientific), 20 μg of the total protein fractions were separated by 10% SDS-PAGE and electroblotted onto PVDF membranes (Millipore Sigma). The membranes were blocked with 5% bovine serum albumin for 1hr and then probed with primary antibodies against iNOS, Arg1 (1:1000; Abcam, Cambridge, United Kingdom), and GAPDH (1:10000; Bioworld Technology, Bloomington, MN, USA) overnight at 4℃. These blots were then incubated with horseradish peroxidase–conjugated secondary antibodies for 1hr and visualized using an ECL detection system (Millipore Sigma). Quantitative analysis was performed for immunoreactive bands using ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA)
Statistical analysis
All results were expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 24.0. The differences in the means among multiple groups were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc Newman keuls test. Two-group comparisons were tested by the Student's t test. p<0.05 was considered to be of statistical significance.