{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T05:45:57Z","timestamp":1785735957195,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Chronic rejection remains a major barrier to long-term survival after renal transplantation. However, our understanding of the transcriptional programs and metabolic alterations that shape the functions of human kidney cell populations during rejection is still limited.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To generate a comprehensive, cell type\u2013specific transcriptomic map of metabolic states in healthy and transplanted human kidney samples.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We performed single-cell RNA sequencing on 33 kidney samples, constructing an atlas comprising 82,661 cells.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Analysis of average metabolic pathway activity across cell subpopulations revealed distinct metabolic profiles. These differences provided insights into both unique abnormalities and shared features underlying various rejection states. We identified downregulation of mitochondrial programs in multiple non-proximal tubular cell populations compared with their counterparts in healthy kidneys. In contrast, both proximal tubular (PT) cells and T cells exhibited relatively elevated oxidative phosphorylation-related transcriptional scores, though the mechanisms driving this shift were specific to cell type and rejection status. Additionally, rejection-associated macrophages demonstrated altered amino acid metabolism, accompanied by enhanced IL-1 signaling.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This single-cell atlas, together with a metabolically based stratification of chronic kidney transplant rejection, offers novel insights into the heterogeneous nature of rejection and provides valuable guidance for the development of targeted therapies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1755316","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T05:30:05Z","timestamp":1785735005000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Single-cell transcriptomic landscape of metabolic reprogramming in kidney allograft rejection"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Zhenan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Long","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"An","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juntao","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinyu","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/mot.0000000000001011","article-title":"Antibody-mediated rejection: prevention, monitoring and treatment dilemmas","volume":"27","author":"Rodriguez-Ramirez","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr Opin Organ Transplant"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4359","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-023-39859-7","article-title":"Transcriptional and spatial profiling of the kidney allograft unravels a central role for FcyRIII+ innate immune cells in rejection","volume":"14","author":"Lamarth\u00e9e","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-09092-2","article-title":"A late B lymphocyte action in dysfunctional tissue repair following kidney injury and transplantation","volume":"10","author":"Cipp\u00e0","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.kint.2023.02.018","article-title":"Single nuclei transcriptomics delineates complex immune and kidney cell interactions contributing to kidney allograft fibrosis","volume":"103","author":"McDaniels","year":"2023","journal-title":"Kidney Int"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/tp.0000000000003095","article-title":"Recommended treatment for antibody-mediated rejection after kidney transplantation: The 2019 expert consensus from the Transplantion Society Working Group","volume":"104","author":"Schinstock","year":"2020","journal-title":"Transplantation"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2217\/bmm.10.12","article-title":"Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin: a promising biomarker for human acute kidney injury","volume":"4","author":"Devarajan","year":"2010","journal-title":"biomark Med"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"316ra193","DOI":"10.1126\/scitranslmed.aac7071","article-title":"Tissue transcriptome-driven identification of epidermal growth factor as a chronic kidney disease biomarker","volume":"7","author":"Ju","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci Transl Med"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaci.2020.01.042","article-title":"Single-cell transcriptome analysis of human skin identifies novel fibroblast subpopulation and enrichment of immune subsets in atopic dermatitis","volume":"145","author":"He","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Allergy Clin Immunol"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1172\/jci.insight.93009","article-title":"Single cell RNA sequencing to dissect the molecular heterogeneity in lupus nephritis","volume":"2","author":"Der","year":"2017","journal-title":"JCI Insight"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2021.767618","article-title":"Single-cell transcriptome analysis of chronic antibody-mediated rejection after renal transplantation","volume":"12","author":"Kong","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Immunol"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1681\/asn.2018020125","article-title":"Single-cell transcriptomics of a human kidney allograft biopsy specimen defines a diverse inflammatory response","volume":"29","author":"Wu","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Am Soc Nephrol"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41581-023-00741-w","article-title":"Kidney lipid dysmetabolism and lipid droplet accumulation in chronic kidney disease","volume":"19","author":"Mitrofanova","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat Rev Nephrol"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcmm.15148","article-title":"Sirt3 modulates fatty acid oxidation and attenuates cisplatin-induced AKI in mice","volume":"24","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Cell Mol Med"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1172\/jci.insight.160345","article-title":"T cell metabolic reprogramming in acute kidney injury and protection by glutamine blockade","volume":"8","author":"Lee","year":"2023","journal-title":"JCI Insight"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1681\/asn.2020030326","article-title":"Harnessing expressed single nucleotide variation and single cell RNA sequencing to define immune cell chimerism in the rejecting kidney transplant","volume":"31","author":"Malone","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Am Soc Nephrol"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7634","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-022-35297-z","article-title":"Single-cell profiling of healthy human kidney reveals features of sex-based transcriptional programs and tissue-specific immunity","volume":"13","author":"McEvoy","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.3192","article-title":"Spatial reconstruction of single-cell gene expression data","volume":"33","author":"Satija","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat Biotechnol"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41592-019-0619-0","article-title":"Fast, sensitive and accurate integration of single-cell data with Harmony","volume":"16","author":"Korsunsky","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat Methods"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nmeth.4463","article-title":"SCENIC: single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering","volume":"14","author":"Aibar","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat Methods"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.xinn.2024.100722","article-title":"Thirteen years of clusterProfiler","volume":"5","author":"Yu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Innovation"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.2859","article-title":"The dynamics and regulators of cell fate decisions are revealed by pseudotemporal ordering of single cells","volume":"32","author":"Trapnell","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat Biotechnol"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsb.2021.05.013","article-title":"Spatial-resolved metabolomics reveals tissue-specific metabolic reprogramming in diabetic nephropathy by using mass spectrometry imaging","volume":"11","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acta Pharm Sin B"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1172\/jci.insight.180114","article-title":"Metabolic landscape of the healthy pancreas and pancreatic tumor microenvironment","volume":"9","author":"Bonilla","year":"2024","journal-title":"JCI Insight"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature19084","article-title":"Pancreatic stellate cells support tumour metabolism through autophagic alanine secretion","volume":"536","author":"Sousa","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-023-06073-w","article-title":"Uridine-derived ribose fuels glucose-restricted pancreatic cancer","volume":"618","author":"Nwosu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.870239","article-title":"Reactive oxygen species induce fatty liver and ischemia-reperfusion injury by promoting inflammation and cell death","volume":"13","author":"Tang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Immunol"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2013.05.016","article-title":"Posttranscriptional control of T cell effector function by aerobic glycolysis","volume":"153","author":"Chang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1681\/asn.2016030368","article-title":"Value of donor-specific anti-HLA antibody monitoring and characterization for risk stratification of kidney allograft loss","volume":"28","author":"Viglietti","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Am Soc Nephrol"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrneph.2012.61","article-title":"Diagnostic challenges in chronic antibody-mediated rejection","volume":"8","author":"Farkash","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nat Rev Nephrol"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/mot.0b013e3283352a50","article-title":"Endothelial transcripts uncover a previously unknown phenotype: C4d-negative antibody-mediated rejection","volume":"15","author":"Sis","year":"2010","journal-title":"Curr Opin Organ Transplant"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4110\/in.2020.20.e46","article-title":"Current understanding on the metabolism of neutrophils","volume":"20","author":"Jeon","year":"2020","journal-title":"Immune Netw"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1038\/s41392-024-01933-x","article-title":"Neutrophil extracellular traps in homeostasis and disease","volume":"9","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Signal Transduc Tgt Ther"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tibs.2015.12.001","article-title":"The Warburg effect: How does it benefit cancer cells","volume":"41","author":"Liberti","year":"2016","journal-title":"Trends Biochem Sci"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopha.2021.111798","article-title":"Metabolic reprogramming due to hypoxia in pancreatic cancer: Implications for tumor formation, immunity, and more","volume":"141","author":"Hao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biomed Pharmacot"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2405","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-22672-5","article-title":"Kidney intercalated cells are phagocytic and acidify internalized uropathogenic Escherichia coli","volume":"12","author":"Saxena","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1097\/MOT.0b013e32834ee5b6","article-title":"Macrophages: contributors to allograft dysfunction, repair, or innocent bystanders","volume":"17","author":"Mannon","year":"2012","journal-title":"Curr Opin Organ Transplant"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1155\/2020\/5746832","article-title":"Profiling the resident and infiltrating monocyte\/macrophages during rejection following kidney transplantation","volume":"2020","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Immunol Res"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.70389\/pjs.100082","article-title":"Transparency in the reporting of Artificial INtelligence \u2013 the TITAN guideline","author":"Agha","year":"2025","journal-title":"Premier J Sci"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Immunology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1755316\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T05:30:08Z","timestamp":1785735008000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1755316\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]]},"references-count":38,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1755316"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1755316","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-3224"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-3224","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]]},"article-number":"1755316"}}