Tanshinone IIA analogue 15a inhibits NLRP3-mediated inflammation by activating mitophagy in macrophages to alleviate acute tubular necrosis

Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) is a common type of acute renal failure. Recent studies have shown that NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in macrophages plays a crucial role in the progression of ATN. Previously, we synthesized an anti-inflammatory compound 15a based on Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA). In the present study, we found that compound 15a exhibited a greater inhibitory effect on NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis than Tan IIA in vitro.C57BL/6 and NLRP3-knockout (NLRP3-KO) mice were intraperitoneally injected with LPS or folic acid (FA) to develop ATN. In vitro, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) were treated with LPS for 3 h and then treated with ATP for 0.5 h.We explored the mechanism by which compound 15a inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome in BMDMs as well as its renal protective effect against ATN in mice. We found that compound 15a exhibited a protective effect on mitochondria and reduced the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS). Moreover, we revealed that compound 15a remarkably reduced the production of mtROS by promoting mitophagy, which resulted in the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome to alleviates ATN in mice.In summary, compound 15a inhibited NLRP3-mediated inflammation by activating mitophagy in macrophages to alleviate ATN. Our results identified compound 15a as a promising candidate for the treatment of NLRP3-driven ATN.