Targeting Interstitial Myofibroblast-Expressed Integrin αvβ3 Alleviates Renal Fibrosis

Renal fibrosis is the final manifestation of various chronic kidney diseases. Interstitial myofibroblasts, which are reported to highly express integrin αvβ3, are the effector cells in renal fibrogenesis. Since current therapies do not efficiently target these cells, there is no effective therapeutic method for preventing or mitigating the disease. Here, we modified sterically stable PEGylated liposomes with the pentapeptide cRGDfC (RGD-Lip), which has a high affinity for αvβ3, to specifically deliver drug to renal interstitial myofibroblasts. Our results showed that attaching cRGDfC to liposomes significantly increased their uptake by activated renal fibroblasts NRK-49F cells, and this effect was greatly abolished by adding excess-free cRGDfC or a knockdown of αvβ3. Systemic administration of RGD-Lip gave rise to significant accumulation in a fibrotic kidney, which is ascribed to the specific recognition with integrin αvβ3 on interstitial myofibroblasts. When loaded with celastrol, RGD-guided liposomes dramatically depressed the proliferation and activation of NRK-49F cells in vitro. Additionally, celastrol-loaded RGD-Lip markedly attenuated renal fibrosis, injury, and inflammation induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in mice, without inducing significant systemic toxicity. Thus, this liposomal system shows great promise for delivering therapeutic agents to interstitial myofibroblasts for renal fibrosis treatment with minimal side effects.