강건희 (한국한의학연구원)

정지연 (한국한의학연구원)

강건희 (한국한의학연구원)

신사라 (한국한의학연구원)

이소민 (한국한의학연구원)

정지연 (한국한의학연구원)

The rate of aging varies across organs, and the kidney is known to be one of the fastest-aging. To investigate age-associated differences in the kidney, we performed UHPLC-MS analysis on kidney tissues from young and old groups. Lipid profiling revealed group-dependent differences in the composition of unsaturated fatty acids within ether phospholipids in the renal cortex, while no such differences were observed in the medulla. Spatial transcriptomics was used to localize regions marked by a renal cortex-specific gene, followed by gene expression analysis using data from three Visium slides per group. The analysis revealed that lipid alterations were associated with differential expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis of ether phospholipid species. To validate the spatial distribution of the ether phospholipids identified, we conducted desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) imaging mass spectrometry. Comparison of the lipids with DESI results confirmed distinct differences in lipid distribution between two groups, specifically in the renal cortex. In summary, our findings suggest that altered expression of lipid metabolic genes drives changes in specific lipid species, which may contribute to kidney aging and the development of chronic kidney disease.