Figure 2. Glutamine affects reduction-oxidation capacity, NAD metabolism, and apoptotic processes.

WT mice were subjected to sham or IRI surgery and received glutamine or saline 15 minutes after reperfusion. Kidneys were collected and homogenized 24 hours after IRI induction. Mass spectrometric label-free quantification was performed in order to identify alteration in protein expression levels as a result of glutamine treatment. A hierarchical clustering heatmap indicates differentially expressed genes (rows) between the respective sham and IRI groups (A, n = 4). Further analysis of 4 kidney homogenates of glutamine-treated mice and saline-treated mice after IRI induction revealed the effect of glutamine on renal protein expression. Red indicates upregulation and blue indicates downregulation (B, n = 4). Volcano plots generated to compare glutamine versus saline treatment after IRI induction reveal 190 proteins to be significantly differentially expressed (C, n = 4). Among these proteins, 96 proteins were significantly elevated due to glutamine treatment (indicated by red dots), whereas 94 proteins were significantly decreased (indicated by blue dots). GO terms representing molecular function are presented in red, cellular component in green, and biological processes in blue (D; Fisher’s exact test, P value < 0.05; only significantly modulated GO terms are displayed). (E) Schematic illustration of signaling pathways in renal TECs affected by glutamine treatment.