Polycystic Kidney Disease News and Research

Latest Polycystic Kidney Disease News and Research

Oncogene Aurora A may contribute to polycystic kidney disease

The Aurora A kinase may contribute to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) by inactivating a key calcium channel in kidney cells, according to a study in the June 13 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology.

13 Jun 2011

Research provides new insights into how cilia are assembled on the cell surface

Body cells detect signals that control their behavior through tiny hairs on the cell surface called cilia. Serious diseases and disorders can result when these cilia do not work properly.

9 Jun 2011

Stem cells from kidneys - World first from Australian scientists

According to Australian scientists, their latest stem cell research breakthrough will bring new treatments for a growing epidemic of chronic kidney disease. They are the first in the world to generate a type of stem cell from human kidney cells. The Melbourne scientists are hoping their discovery will have far-reaching effects in treating the disease.

19 May 2011

Scientists make human stem cells without working on human embryos

Stem cell research courts both controversy and support in the community- depending on your viewpoint.

17 May 2011

New discoveries on polycystin-1 can lead to novel kidney disease treatment

Two discoveries at UC Santa Barbara point to potential new drug therapies for patients with kidney disease. The findings are published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Apr 2011

Scientists reveal unknown role of cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have described a previously unknown role for the cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis, the process by which a dividing cell separates its chromosomes containing the cell's DNA into two identical sets of new daughter cells.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome

Dutch researchers of the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen found a new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome (Journal of Medical Genetics, 2011 Mar 4). The mutation adds support to the hypothesis that defects in ciliar transport are the cause of the disease. Project leader Dr. Heleen H. Arts is supported by a Kolff Junior Postdoc Grant of the Dutch Kidney Foundation.

14 Mar 2011

Intellikine, PKD Foundation to investigate novel therapies for patients with PKD

Intellikine, a leader in the development of small molecule drugs targeting the PI3K/mTOR pathway, and the PKD Foundation today announced a collaboration to investigate novel, orally-available small molecule kinase inhibitors of the TORC1 and TORC2 complexes as a potential treatment for patients with polycystic kidney disease.

11 Feb 2011

Functional tests are necessary to understand human disease despite genetic sequencing

Despite what you might have heard, genetic sequencing alone is not enough to understand human disease. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have shown that functional tests are absolutely necessary to understand the biological relevance of the results of sequencing studies as they relate to disease, using a suite of diseases known as the ciliopathies which can cause patients to have many different traits.

24 Jan 2011

OSEO awards €10.4 million to DIPPAL project targeting Alzheimer's disease

The biotech companies PHARNEXT and BIOSYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, the Bordeaux Hospital where CMRR is located, the university Bordeaux Segalen and Inserm (the center U897 "Epidemiology and Biostatistics") have joined forces to carry out the DIPPAL2i project. This innovative research and industrial development project is targeting Alzheimer's disease (AD) and has attracted significant financial support from OSEO (the French state innovation agency).

18 Nov 2010

Diabetic drug may retard growth of fluid-filled cysts in PKD: Research

Researchers report that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes may also retard the growth of fluid-filled cysts of the most common genetic disorder, polycystic kidney disease.

12 Nov 2010

Study finds new therapeutic target for polycystic kidney disease

In work suggesting a new approach to treating polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a leading cause of kidney failure, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were able to block the formation of fluid-filled cysts, the hallmark of the disease, in a mouse model. Their findings, using a compound that inhibits a receptor known as c-Met, will be published in the September 13th online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

14 Sep 2010

PLX4032 trial shows high degree of selectivity to achieve tumor shrinkage

Plexxikon today announced publication of key data in this week's edition of Nature demonstrating that the high degree of selectivity of PLX4032 (RG7204) enables substantial RAF/MEK/ERK pathway inhibition, which may be necessary to achieve significant tumor shrinkage and clinical response in patients with BRAF mutant melanoma.

8 Sep 2010

Data from PLX4032 Phase 1 clinical trial in melanoma patients with BRAF mutation published

Plexxikon today announced publication of data from the Phase 1 clinical trial of PLX4032 (RG7204), confirming that treatment of metastatic melanoma patients with the BRAF V600E mutation resulted in significant tumor shrinkage in the majority of patients. Specifically, in the melanoma extension cohort of the study, nearly all patients showed some response; 81 percent of patients had tumor shrinkage of at least 30 percent.

26 Aug 2010

Plexxikon announces promising preclinical data of PLX3397

Plexxikon Inc. today announced promising preclinical data from in vivo Alzheimer's Disease studies demonstrating a dramatic reduction in activated microglia in the brains of very old (22 months) 3xTG-AD mice, a triple transgenic model for Alzheimer's Disease. This reduction of activated microglia led to significantly improved learning in the treated group.

15 Jul 2010

Japanese scientists identify long-elusive enzyme necessary for proper regulation of cilia

It's safe to say that cilia, the hairlike appendages jutting out from the smooth surfaces of most mammalian cells, have long been misunderstood - underestimated, even.

8 Jul 2010

Pharnext closes €4.8-million Series A funding round

Pharnext SAS, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative treatments based on Pleotherapy™ for severe neurological diseases, today announced that it had closed a €4.8-million Series A round of funding on June 3rd (corresponding to a company valuation of €45 million).

9 Jun 2010

Plexxikon announces Phase 1 extension study results of PLX4032 in metastatic colorectal cancer

Plexxikon announced today the results of a Phase 1 extension study in metastatic colorectal cancer that showed clinical activity of PLX4032 as a single agent in this hard-to-treat patient population. PLX4032 is a novel, oral small molecule targeting an oncogenic BRAF mutation found in over 50 percent of melanomas, about 10 percent of colorectal cancers and eight percent of all solid tumors.

7 Jun 2010

Researchers identify gene responsible for Meckel-Gruber and Joubert syndromes

An international group of researchers has identified the genetic cause of an inherited condition that causes severe foetal abnormalities.

31 May 2010

Immunosuppressive drug sirolimus improves kidney health of patients with ADPKD: Study

The immunosuppressive drug sirolimus considerably improves the kidney health of patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

14 May 2010