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Interferon-? induces combined pyroptotic angiopathy and APOL1 expression in human kidney disease

Juliar, BA;Stanaway, IB;Sano, F;Fu, H;Smith, KD;Akilesh, S;Scales, SJ;El Saghir, J;Bhatraju, PK;Liu, E;Yang, J;Lin, J;Eddy, S;Kretzler, M;Zheng, Y;Himmelfarb, J;Harder, JL;Freedman, BS;

Elevated interferon (IFN) signaling is associated with kidney diseases including COVID-19, HIV, and apolipoprotein-L1 (APOL1) nephropathy, but whether IFNs directly contribute to nephrotoxicity remains unclear. Using human kidney organoids, primary endothelial cells, and patient samples, we demonstrate that IFN-? induces pyroptotic angiopathy in combination with APOL1 expression. Single-cell RNA sequencing, immunoblotting, and quantitative fluorescence-based assays reveal that IFN-?-mediated expression of APOL1 is accompanied by pyroptotic endothelial network degradation in organoids. Pharmacological blockade of IFN-? signaling inhibits APOL1 expression, prevents upregulation of pyroptosis-associated genes, and rescues vascular networks. Multiomic analyses in patients with COVID-19, proteinuric kidney disease, and collapsing glomerulopathy similarly demonstrate increased IFN signaling and pyroptosis-associated gene expression correlating with accelerated renal disease progression. Our results reveal that IFN-? signaling simultaneously induces endothelial injury and primes renal cells for pyroptosis, suggesting a combinatorial mechanism for APOL1-mediated collapsing glomerulopathy, which can be targeted therapeutically.