Insights into the renal pathophysiology in Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome-1 from urinary extracellular vesicle proteomics and a new mouse model

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1 (HPS-1) is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder caused by defects in the biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex-3 (BLOC-3). Impaired kidney function is among its clinical manifestations. To investigate HPS-1 renal involvement, we employed 1D-gel-LC–MS/MS and compared the protein composition of urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) from HPS-1 patients to normal control individuals. We identified 1029 proteins, 149 of which were altered in HPS-1 uEVs. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed disruptions in mitochondrial function and the LXR/RXR pathway that regulates lipid metabolism, which is supported by our novel Hps1 knockout mouse. Serum concentration of the LXR/RXR pathway protein ApoA1 in our patient cohort was positively correlated with kidney function (with the estimated glomerular filtration rate or eGFR). uEVs can be used to study epithelial cell protein trafficking in HPS-1 and may provide outcome measures for HPS-1 therapeutic interventions.