Injection of croton acid into the AKI mice upregulates crotonylation modification and expression levels of both mRNA and proteins of kidney protective factor PGC-1α, decrotonylase and SIRT3, while downregulating mRNA levels of chemokine CCL2, suggesting that the protective role of crotonylation modification in kidney damages is via up-regulating the levels of PGC-1α and SIRT3 and down-regulating CCL2. Here, CCL2 is linked to acute kidney injury.