Regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress on the damage and apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells induced by calcium oxalate crystals

This study aimed to observe whether calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals can induce the activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in human renal cortex proximal tubule epithelial (HK-2) cells and to explore the regulatory of ER stress on the damage and apoptosis of HK-2 cells induced by CaOx crystals. We detected the optimal CaOx crystal concentration and intervention time by Western blot. ER stress modifiers tunicamycin (TM) and 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) were used to regulate the ER stress of HK-2 cells. The activities of ER stress marker proteins GRP78 and CHOP were evaluated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Western blot and TUNEL staining were used to detect cell apoptosis. We observed cell–crystal adhesion with an optical microscope. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) test kit and IL-1β enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit were used to detect and evaluate HK-2 cell damage. We found that the expression of ER stress marker proteins GRP78 and CHOP gradually increased with the increase in CaOx crystal concentration and intervention time and reached the maximum at 2.0 mmol/L and 24 h. The use of ER stress modifiers TM and 4-PBA can effectively regulate the ER stress level induced by CaOx crystals, and the level of apoptosis is positively correlated with the level of ER stress. 4-PBA pretreatment remarkably reduced cell–crystal adhesion and the secretions of IL-1β and LDH, whereas the results of TM pretreatment were the opposite. In summary, the damage and apoptosis of HK-2 cells induced by CaOx crystals are closely related to the level of ER stress. Inhibiting the ER stress of HK-2 cells can substantially reduce the cell damage and apoptosis induced by CaOx crystals.