Genetic image of the kidneys
Press release issued: 10 December 2024
New potential therapeutic targets have been identified for diabetic kidney disease (DKD) - the leading cause of kidney failure in the world - that could see patients treated with new gene and drug therapies preventing the disease’s progression into end stage kidney failure. The study is published in Nature Communications.
The University of Bristol-led breakthrough, involving scientists from the UK, Europe and USA, discovered specific cell changes in the kidney caused by insulin resistance – a major driver of diabetic kidney disease.
Despite its prevalence, the molecular mechanisms underlying DKD development remain poorly understood. Researchers sought to understand the cellular and molecular changes occurring in the kidney (specifically the glomerulus and proximal tubule) which is key to understanding the mechanisms underlying the disease, identifying therapeutic targets and biomarker candidates.
Building on the team’s previous work in this area, the team examined the changes caused by insulin-resistance in four types of kidney cells, and then compared these changes with kidney biopsies from patients with early and late diabetic kidney disease.
The study revealed multiple ‘common’ and ‘cell specific’ changes caused by insulin-resistance representing new targets for pharmacological or targeted gene therapy approaches.
Richard Coward, Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Bristol and Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, and one of the study's lead authors said: “Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage kidney failure in the world, occurring in up to 50 per cent of individuals with diabetes. Patients with end stage kidney disease require daily dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. If we can find a way to prevent this, it would save and improve countless lives.
“Our aim now is to take several of these therapeutic targets forward in a pre-clinical setting, and hopefully through clinical trials.”
Dr Aisling McMahon, Executive Director of Research at Kidney Research UK, added: “We are determined to find ways to tackle diabetic kidney disease. By providing detailed information on genes and pathways involved in diabetic kidney disease, Professor Coward's work takes us one step closer to a more complete understanding of this condition, but also towards discovering new targeted agents to prevent it.”
The study is funded by the European Union (BEAt-DKD [Biomarker Enterprise to Attack DKD]), MRC UKRI and Kidney Research UK.
Paper
‘Profiling of insulin-resistant kidney models and human biopsies reveals common and cell-type-specific mechanisms underpinning diabetic kidney disease’ by Abigail C. Lay et al. in Nature Communications [open access]
Further information
About Diabetes
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in the UK. One in five people with diabetes will need treatment for kidney disease during their lifetime and almost one in three people who need dialysis, or a transplant have diabetes.
About Kidney Research UK
Kidney Research UK is the leading charity in the UK focused on funding research into the prevention, treatment, and management of kidney disease. Our vision is the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease and for more than 60 years the research we fund has been making an impact. But kidney disease is increasing as are the factors contributing to it, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, making our work more essential than ever.
At Kidney Research UK we work with clinicians and scientists across the UK, funding and facilitating research into all areas of kidney disease. We collaborate with partners across the public, private and third sectors to prevent kidney disease and drive innovation to transform treatments.
Over the last ten years we have invested more than £58 million into research. We lobby governments and decision makers to change policy and practice to ensure that more than 3 million people living with kidney disease in the UK have access to the most effective care and treatment, and to make kidney disease a priority.
Most importantly, we also work closely with patients, ensuring their voice is heard and is at the centre of everything we do, from deciding which research to invest in to how we plan our priorities and our work across the charity.
About the Medical Research Council
The Medical Research Council is at the forefront of scientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in 1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers’ money in some of the best medical research in the world across every area of health. Thirty-three MRC-funded researchers have won Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRC scientists have been behind such diverse discoveries as vitamins, the structure of DNA and the link between smoking and cancer, as well as achievements such as pioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, the invention of MRI scanning, and the development of a group of antibodies used in the making of some of the most successful drugs ever developed. Today, MRC-funded scientists tackle some of the greatest health problems facing humanity in the 21st century, from the rising tide of chronic diseases associated with ageing to the threats posed by rapidly mutating micro-organisms.
