Progranulin (PGRN), an autocrine growth factor, has multiple physiological functions and is widely involved in the pathogenesis of many types of diseases. The pivotal anti-inflammatory function of PGRN in rheumatoid arthritis encouraged us to examine the role of PGRN in acute kidney injury (AKI). We found that levels of PGRN were significantly reduced in the kidney in a mouse model of renal ischemia/reperfusion injury. We also observed that PGRN deficiency (Grn(-/-) mice) significantly aggravated renal injury as evidenced by higher serum creatinine, more severe morphological injury, increased tubular epithelial cell death, and tubulointerstitial neutrophil and macrophage infiltration versus wild-type mice. In vitro, we found that recombinant human PGRN attenuated hypoxia-induced inflammatory actions and apoptosis in proximal tubule epithelial cells, at least in part associated with a nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing 2 (NOD2)-mediated immune response. Importantly, pretreatment with or delayed administration of recombinant human PGRN protected against or promoted recovery from renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in wild-type and Grn(-/-) mice. Similar protective effects were also found in cisplatin-induced AKI. Thus, our findings provide a better understanding of the biological activities of PGRN in the kidney and suggest that PGRN may be an innovative therapeutic strategy for treating patients with AKI.