Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The lack of sensitive and specific injury biomarkers has greatly impeded the development of therapeutic strategies to improve outcomes of AKI.The unique objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of nine urinary biomarkers of AKI-kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL), interleukin-18 (IL-18), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), cystatin C (Cys), N-acetyl--D-glucosaminidase (NAG), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), chemokine interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10; CXCL10), and total protein-in a cross-sectional comparison of 204 patients with or without AKI.Median urinary concentrations of each biomarker were significantly higher in patients with AKI than in those without AKI (p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC-ROC) for the combination of biomarkers using a logic regression model [risk score of 2.93*(NGAL > 5.72 and HGF > 0.17) + 2.93*(PROTEIN > 0.22) 22*(KIM < 0.58)] was greater (0.94) than individual biomarker AUC-ROCs. Age-adjusted levels of urinary KIM-1, NAG, HGF, VEGF, and total protein were significantly higher in patients who died or required renal replacement therapy (RRT) when compared to those who survived and did not require RRT.Our results demonstrate the comparative value of multiple biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of AKI.

Female meiotic divisions in higher organisms are asymmetric and lead to the formation of a large oocyte and small polar bodies. These asymmetric divisions are due to eccentric spindle positioning which, in the mouse, requires actin filaments. Recently Formin-2, a straight actin filaments nucleator, has been proposed to control spindle positioning, chromosome segregation as well as first polar body extrusion in mouse oocytes. We reexamine here the possible role of Formin-2 during mouse meiotic maturation by live videomicroscopy. We show that Formin-2 controls first meiotic spindle migration to the cortex but not chromosome congression or segregation. We also show that the lack of first polar body extrusion in fmn2(-/-) oocytes is not due to a lack of cortical differentiation or central spindle formation but to a defect in the late steps of cytokinesis. Indeed, Survivin, a component of the passenger protein complex, is correctly localized on the central spindle at anaphase in fmn2(-/-) oocytes. We show here that attempts of cytokinesis in these oocytes abort due to phospho-myosin II mislocalization.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common condition with significant associated morbidity and mortality. The insensitivity and non-specificity of traditional markers of renal dysfunction prevent timely diagnosis, estimation of the severity of renal injury, and the administration of possible therapeutic agents. Here, we determine the prognostic ability of urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP), and further characterize its sensitivity and specificity as a biomarker of AKI. Initial western blot studies found increased urinary L-FABP in patients with confirmed AKI. A more extensive cross-sectional study found significant increases in urinary L-FABP, normalized to urinary creatinine, in 92 patients with established AKI compared with 62 patients without clinical evidence of AKI. In hospitalized patients, the diagnostic performance of urinary L-FABP for AKI, assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 0.93. This compares favorably with other established biomarkers of AKI such as kidney injury molecule-1, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, and interleukin-18. Our study shows that age-adjusted urinary L-FABP levels were significantly higher in patients with poor outcome, defined as the requirement for renal replacement therapy or the composite end point of death or renal replacement therapy.