See the power in kidney cells with ATP biosensor

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Renal Physiology
• Cellular Metabolism

Background:

• Assessing intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels is crucial for understanding kidney function and disease.
• Previous in vivo methods lacked the resolution to examine deep kidney structures or specific cell types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel technique for measuring single-cell ATP levels in intact living kidney tissue.
• To enable mechanistic investigations into kidney cell metabolism, disease progression, and therapeutic interventions.

Main Methods:

• Development of a specialized in vivo biosensor.
• Application of the biosensor to intact living kidney tissue, including deep cortical and medullary regions.
• Single-cell resolution imaging of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) dynamics.

Main Results:

• Successful measurement of intracellular ATP levels at single-cell resolution within intact living kidney tissue.
• Demonstration of the technique's ability to visualize ATP in both tubular and vascular kidney segments.
• Establishment of a tool for mechanistic studies of kidney pathophysiology.

Conclusions:

• This technical advance provides unprecedented insight into kidney cell energy metabolism.
• The method facilitates the study of kidney diseases, such as acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.
• It offers a powerful platform for evaluating the impact of pharmacological treatments on kidney energy status.