Prolonged glucagon exposure rewires lipid oxidation and drives diabetic kidney disease progression
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease. Tubular abnormalities may precede glomerular pathology and indicate functional progression of DKD. Here, we find glucagon injection exacerbates lipid accumulation and renal injury, in addition to causing morphological changes in proximal tubules, podocytes, and mitochondria in the early phase of DKD in mice. However, the specific knockdown or knockout of Gcgr in renal tubular epithelial cells almost completely halts DKD development. In contrast to the effect of short-term glucagon stimulation, long-term glucagon exposure leads to the reversal of glucagon action (glucagon reversal) in proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs), which is characterized by reduced energy production and an increase in lipogenesis through Gcgr-PKA-Creb-mTORC1 pathway. Accordingly, anti-GCGR antibody treatment strongly blocks the pathogenesis of DKD induced by both type 2 and type 1 diabetes. Thus, our results highlight a previously unrecognized role of glucagon/Gcgr signaling in PTEC lipogenesis and DKD.
Authors
- Jiaqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2107-163X)
- Shaocong Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0442-8138)
- Zeper Abliz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4876-2392)
- Difei Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3953-8900)
- Lijuan Kong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7194-1443)
- Xingfeng Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-5797)
- Shengying Gu
- Lei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2238-3941)
- Qingce Zang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8220-1508)
- Caiyi Xing
- Hai Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0916-8865)
- Bing Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8374-7801)
- Tao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5080-3352)
- Jingwen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5756-3336)
- Ruiping Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6482-9991)
- Pingping Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0679-270X)
- Qijin Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1216-1640)
- Qian Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3969-9141)
- Hanwen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3974-1506)
- Yibing Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6848-2654)
- Wenjia Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2263-5103)
- Chunxiao Ma
- Yanjun Wan
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- International Council on Mining and Metals (GB)
- Molecular Discovery (United Kingdom) (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63529-5
- Primary Topic
- Diabetes Treatment and Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
- Peking Union Medical College
- University of California, San Diego
- Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds UGent