HIF meets NF-κB signaling

An inflammatory stimulus prior to an ischemic insult can be protective in acute kidney injury (AKI) as well as other acute organ injury models, an effect called cross-tolerance. He et al. investigated mechanisms of cross-tolerance whereby pretreatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) protects from a subsequent ischemic insult of the kidney. The protection was mediated by LPS-induced nuclear factor-kappa B and hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2 alpha) signaling. These results link two central cellular pathways and give new insight into HIF-mediated renoprotection in AKI models.