Kidney VISTA prevents IFNγ-IL-9 axis-mediated tubulointerstitial fibrosis after acute glomerular injury

Backgrounds: The present study addressed whether V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA), constitutively expressed in kidney macrophages, has a protective role in tubulointerstitial fibrotic transformation after acute antibody-mediated glomerulonephritis. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and VISTA-deficient (Vsir-/-, KO) mice were treated with nephrotoxic serum to induced acute antibody-mediated glomerulonephritis, and their cytokine and fibrosis profiles were compared. Results: VISTA was highly expressed in kidney macrophages (resident more than infiltrating subset). If VISTA was depleted, tubules suffered further damage after glomerular injury. In damaged Vsir–/– mice, the contact frequency of macrophages with infiltrated T cells increased, and then the immunometabolic characteristics of T cells changed to overproduction of interferon-γ. The Vsir–/– parenchymal tissue cells responded to this altered milieu as more producing interleukin-9, which augmented tubulointerstitial fibrosis and irreversible kidney dysfunction. The blocking antibodies against interferon-γ and interleukin-9 protected above pathological process by VISTA depletion. Conclusions: VISTA is a sentinel protein of kidney macrophages, which prevents tubulointerstitial fibrosis via interferon-γ-interleukin-9 axis after acute antibody-mediated glomerular injury. single-cell RNA sequencing data of 8 weeks old C57BL/6 mice (Vsir-/-)