Development of a unilateral ureteral obstruction model in cynomolgus monkeys

Linghong Huang; Jia Ni; Tanika Duncan; Zhizhan Song; Timothy S.Johnson

doi:10.1002/ame2.12185

摘要：Background : Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a high global prevalence and large unmet need. Central to developing new CKD therapies are in vivo models in CKD. However, next- generation antibody, protein, and gene therapies are highly specific, meaning some do not cross- react with rodent targets. This complicates preclinical development, as established in vivo rodent models cannot be utilized unless tool therapeutics are also developed. Tool compounds can be difficult to develop and, if available, typically have different epitopes, sequences, and/or altered affinity, mak-ing it unclear how efficacious the lead therapeutic may be, or what dosing regimen to investigate. To address this, we aimed to develop a nonhuman primate model of CKD. Methods : In vivo rodent unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) models kidney fibrosis and is commonly used due to its rapidity, consistency, and ease. We describe translation of this model to the cynomolgus monkey, specifically optimizing the model duration to allow adequate time for assessment of novel therapeutics prior to the fibrotic plateau. Results : We demonstrated that disease developed more slowly in cynomolgus mon-keys than in rodents post- UUO, with advanced fibrosis developing by 6 weeks. The tubulointerstitial fibrosis in cynomolgus monkeys was more consistent with human obstructive disease than in rodents, having a more aggressive tubular basement ex-pansion and a higher fibroblast infiltration. The fibrosis was also associated with in-creased transglutaminase activity, consistent with that seen in patients with CKD. Conclusion : This cynomolgus monkey UUO model can be used to test potential human- specific therapeutics in kidney fibrosis.