Astragaloside IV Mitigates Tacrolimus-Induced Chronic Nephrotoxicity by Regulating the mTOR-TFEB-GADD45α Pathway.

Gao P, Cheng X, Xu R, Huang X, Wang J, Liu M, Wu X, Guan X, Chen Y, Qiu Z · 2026 · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · Atlas ID GAO2026

What this study shows

Astragaloside IV protects against tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity by inhibiting mTOR to activate TFEB and restore autophagy, nominating the mTOR-TFEB-GADD45alpha axis as a calcineurin-independent candidate therapeutic target (preclinical; no human data) in TICN.

Abstract

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Tacrolimus-induced chronic nephrotoxicity (TICN) is mediated in part through calcineurin-dependent TFEB phosphorylation. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) significantly reactivated TFEB and restored tacrolimus-impaired renal function, autophagy flux, and DNA repair. TFEB knockdown reversed AS-IV effects. AS-IV does not affect calcineurin but inhibits mTOR (which phosphorylates TFEB Ser211), thereby activating TFEB via the mTOR-TFEB-GADD45alpha axis.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (tacrolimus-induced chronic nephrotoxicity model) + renal cell lines); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (tacrolimus-induced chronic nephrotoxicity model) + renal cell lines
Journal	Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Year	2026
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-07-29
Source	DOI 10.1021/acs.jafc.5c17921 · PMID 42438242

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Astragaloside IV
Target	mTOR / TFEB / GADD45alpha / autophagy
Model	In vitro (renal cells)
Effect	TFEB reactivation, restored autophagy flux, improved renal function markers, attenuation of nephrotoxicity

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Gao, P., Cheng, X., Xu, R., Huang, X., Wang, J., Liu, M., Wu, X., Guan, X., Chen, Y., & Qiu, Z. (2026). Astragaloside IV Mitigates Tacrolimus-Induced Chronic Nephrotoxicity by Regulating the mTOR-TFEB-GADD45α Pathway. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5c17921

@article{GAO2026,
  author       = {Gao, P. and Cheng, X. and Xu, R. and Huang, X. and Wang, J. and Liu, M. and Wu, X. and Guan, X. and Chen, Y. and Qiu, Z.},
  title        = {{Astragaloside IV Mitigates Tacrolimus-Induced Chronic Nephrotoxicity by Regulating the mTOR-TFEB-GADD45α Pathway}},
  journal      = {Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.1021/acs.jafc.5c17921},
  note         = {PMID: 42438242},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record GAO2026) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/GAO2026/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_GAO2026,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record GAO2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/GAO2026/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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