Renal research consortia receives two grants for translational research from DKF

The Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF) awards two Consortium Grants of 1,5 million euro to renal research consortia to concentrate on translational research. Each consortium is a collaboration of three research teams form three university medical centres in the Netherlands. The awarded proposals were assessed by independent international reviewers and the DKF International Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Jan Weening, former president of the International Society of Nephrology.

Viruses and Transplantation
The first consortium is aimed at further improving the results of renal transplantation. Immunosuppressive medication raises the risk for infections and cancer by weakening the immune system. Transplant patients need the medication to avoid the transplanted kidney being rejected. Viruses are an important problem, especially BK virus and CMV, a common virus that usually doesn't do much harm.

The immune attack against CMV however leaves an immune trace of T-memory-cells that can later cross react with proteins expressed on a donor kidney. Moreover, CMV may cause dangerous infections of the major organs - patients with a CMV-positive donor receive antiviral drugs as a precaution. The consortium will try to unravel the way these viruses are hindering successful transplantation. A strong ambition is to find new biomarkers in graft or urine to improve the diagnosis of virus infection and rejection.

Said principal investigator dr. Ineke ten Berge of Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam: 'It is very important to gain insight into the interplay between the immune reaction against these viruses on the one hand and the reaction against graft proteins on the other. It will support treatment choices after transplantation and may even improve the matching of donor and recipient'.

Glycocalyx in the Kidney
The second consortium will investigate the glycocalyx in the glomeruli (the microscopic filter units of the kidney made of a tuft of small blood vessels). The glycocalyx is a thin sugary coating inside the capillary that covers the vessel cells with a protective layer. There is evidence that an injured glycocalyx plays an important role in proteinuria (loss of proteins through the glomeruli). This is the hallmark of glomerular kidney disease.

Researching the glycocalyx' myriad different molecules has to clear up the mechanisms involved. These molecules are long-chained sugars linked up to proteins projecting from the endothelial cells. Certain domains within the sugars are found to stimulate white blood cells to enter glomerular tissue through the vessel walls and cause inflammation. The consortium aims to explain the role of the glycocalyx and to find new biomarkers to judge glycocalyx damage and disease stage. This research may lead to entirely new treatments of glomerular disease that target the glycocalyx directly.

Principal investigator dr. Johan van der Vlag of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre underlined the project's significance for kidney patients. 'This research will shed light on still badly understood processes within the smallest units of the kidney. As a result we will be better able to find and treat glomerular disease'.

Source : DKF Consortia