REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Renal Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1660109
Acetylation in renal physiology and pathophysiology
Provisionally accepted
- 1Northwest University College of Life Sciences, Xi'An, China
- 2Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yantai, China
- 3China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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The kidney, one of the most important organs in the human body, is vital for maintaining overall health and homeostasis. However, kidney diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), have become serious global public health issue. The post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins, especially acetylation, can affect the pathophysiology of the kidney through various pathways, including the regulation of inflammatory responses, fibrosis, apoptosis, This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article and autophagy. Acetylation is primarily regulated by two types of enzymes: histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). There are 11 known HDAC isoforms that have been shown to influence the onset and progression of kidney disease by affecting the acetylation level of key proteins. Additionally, sirtuins (SIRTs), which belonging to class III HDACs, regulate multiple biological processes to exert protective effects on the kidneys and delay the progression of kidney diseases. Intriguingly, some SIRTs exhibit dual roles (protective/detrimental) in various renal disease models. Many HDAC inhibitors and SIRT activators have been widely used in the clinical treatment of various kidney diseases. In this review, we summarize the roles and mechanisms of HDACs and SIRTs in kidney diseases, and then review the potential therapeutic effects of some SIRT activators and HDAC inhibitors for kidney protection. Notably, we also discuss the mechanism of SIRTs with dual roles on kidney protection and injury and introduce some agonists and inhibitors targeting these SIRTs.
Keywords: Acetylation, AKI, CKD, HDACs, SIRTs
Received: 05 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wu, Chen, Liu, Li and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ping Li, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
Dan-Qian Chen, Northwest University College of Life Sciences, Xi'An, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.