ROS-responsive cellular vesicles with ferroptosis-targeting siACMSD delivery for acute kidney injury therapy

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe and prevalent nephrotic syndrome which lack of definitive therapies. Alpha-amino-β-carboxymuconic acid-ε-semialdehyde decarboxylase (ACMSD) is a metabolic enzyme mainly expressed in the kidney which exacerbated AKI injury by promoting TCA cycle and inhibiting nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) production, whereas lack of effective intervention strategies for ACMSD-targeted therapy. Methods: Herein, we knocked out ACMSD in vitro through CRISPR-Cas9 method, and developed a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive neutrophil-derived cellular vesicles (CVs) drugs (RNAi@ROS-CVs), which efficiently mediated ACMSD knockdown in vivo, exploring the mechanism of ACMSD-induced ferroptosis process in AKI. Results: ACMSD knockout effectively alleviated cisplatin (CP)-induced mitochondrial damage, suppressed TCA cycle progression, promoted NAD⁺ synthesis, and inhibited ferroptosis in HK2 cells. In mice AKI model, RNAi@ROS-CVs effectively targeted the injured kidneys, downregulated ACMSD expression in renal tubular epithelial cells, reduced ROS production and lipid peroxidation, and alleviated CP or ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced ferroptosis. Conclusion: These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of ACMSD-targeted knockout in AKI intervention and introduce a versatile and efficient controlled-release drug delivery platform for AKI-targeted therapy, with potential applicability to other acute renal diseases.