PKD Foundation Funds Millions in Groundbreaking New Research

PKD Foundation Funds Millions in Groundbreaking New Research

PKD Foundation scientific advisors have voted to fund approximately $4 million in PKD research, including a project in France studying a promising new drug, Roscovitine.

According to researchers, Roscovitine may provide a long-term treatment for PKD without frequent dosing. It is currently being used in cancer clinical trials.

For the first time, the PKD Foundation will also fund a research project at the Stowers Institute in Kansas City, home of the PKD Foundation's international headquarters.

This year, the PKD Foundation is funding projects in 17 states and 10 foreign countries.

Standard Grants: Year 1, $75,000 Each

Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR:
Estrogen metabolites and experimental polycystic kidney disease
PKD Information at Oregon Health and Science University

Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA:
Characterization of the role of the Nek8 kinase in development
PKD Information at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA:
TAZ as a possible substrate of Nek kinases
PKD Information at Harvard

University of Technology in Aachen, Germany:
Characterization of the PKHD1 gene and genotype-phenotype studies in autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD)

Fondazione-Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine in Naples, Italy:
Elucidation of the role of OFD1 in renal cystic disease
PKD Information at Fondazione-Telethon Institute of Genetics

Indiana University in Indianapolis, IN:
Delivery of a human artificial chromosome harboring a PKD1 transgene into renal epithelial cells
PKD Information at Indiana University

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA:
Stem cell therapy for polycystic kidney disease
PKD Information at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO:
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) and Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)
PKD Information at Stowers

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI:
Regulation of ciliary trafficking by RP2
PKD Information at University of Michigan

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) in Roscoff, France:
Roscovitine-derived pharmacological inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases: optimization and characterization for PKD therapeutic application
PKD Information at C.N.R.S.

Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands:
The role of TGFB-signaling in the progression of polycystic kidney disease
PKD Information at Leiden University Medical Center

Texas A&M in University College Station, TX:
Identification of effectors for the IFT27, an intraflagellar transport (IFT) particle protein functioning in the cell cycle
PKD Information at Texas A&M

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY:
Biomechanical transduction of gene transcription in renal tubular epithelia
PKD Information at Mount Sinai

Yale University in New Haven, CT:
Angiogenesis and progression of liver cysts in ADPKD
PKD Information at Yale

University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA:
Molecular mechanism of renal deciliation and cystogenesis
PKD Information at University of Iowa

Fellowships: Year 1, $50,000 Each

University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worchester, MA:
Primary role for the centrosome in cilia formation and ciliopathies
PKD Information at University of Massachusetts Medical School

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD:
Using induced PKD1 inactivation and network modeling strategies to identify gene networks responsible for post-natal kidney maturation and cystogenesis
PKD Information at Johns Hopkins

University of Kansas Medical Center, The Kidney Institute in Kansas City, KS:
Role of 14-3-3 and A-kinase anchoring proteins on the cAMP-dependent B-Raf signaling and proliferation of ADPKD cells
PKD Information at University of Kansas Medical Center

Children's Hospital of Boston in Boston, MA:
Regulation of pkd2 expression by α3β1 integrin
PKD Information at Children's Hospital

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH:
The role of primary cilia in regulating mammalian target of rapamycin signaling
PKD Information at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA:
Molecular mechanism of renal cystogenesis in ADPKD
PKD Information at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Young Investigator Career Development Awards: Year 1, $65,000 Each

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD:
Polycystin signaling in Drosophila melanogaster
PKD Information at Johns Hopkins

The Penn State University in University Park, PA:
The roles for Inturned in kidney development and PKD pathogenesis
PKD Information at Penn State

Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA:
Molecular mechanisms of the autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease
PKD Information at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Standard Grants: Year 2, $75,000 Each

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX:
The effect of inhibition of IL-8 and b-catenin on the evolution of in vivo and in vitro models of ADPKD
PKD Information at Texas Tech

Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT:
Mechanism of polycystic liver disease in Hhex mutant mice
PKD Information at Yale

Fondazione Centro San Rafelle del Monte Tabor in Milan, Italy:
The role of polycystins in renal development
PKD Information at Fondazione

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX:
The role of Wnt9b signaling in PKD
PKD Information at University of Texas Southwestern

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanna, Switzerland:
The role of Bicc in PKD and cilia signaling
PKD Information at Swiss Federal Insititute of Technology

Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT:
Molecular investigation of polycystin-2 regulation
PKD Information at Yale

Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT:
Pathogenesis of congenital hepatic fibrosis and biliary cyst formation in ARPKD
PKD Information at Yale

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD:
Novel interacting proteins of the PC1 plat domain
PKD Information at Johns Hopkins

University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, AL:
Identification of PKD markers: Transcriptome-profiling based approach
PKD Information at UAB

University of Sheffield School of Medicine in Sheffield, England:
The role of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonists in the progression of cystic and vascular phenotypes in ADPKD
PKD Information at University of Sheffield

Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, WI:
The role of 20-HETE in polycystic kidney disease
PKD Informaiton at Medical College of Wisconsin

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD:
Discovering extracellular ligands of polycystin-1
PKD Information at Johns Hopkins

Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT:
The role of pontin in cilia assembly and cyst formation in zebrafish
PKD Information at Yale

University of California at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA:
CFTR-based therapy for PKD
PKD Information at UCSF

Purdue University in Indianapolis, IN:
Structural analysis of polycystin-2 cytoplasmic domain
PKD Information at Purdue

University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, AL:
Cilia and cAMP in cystic disease
PKD Information at UAB

USC Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA:
Role of claudin-7 in chloride an fluid secretion in PKD
PKD Information at USC

Fellowships: Year 2, $50,000

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Smithville, TX:
Polycystin-1 regulation of the TSC2 tumor suppressor tuberin
PKD Information at University of Texas MD

Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT:
The biflagellate Chlamydomonas as a model cell for studying PKD2 function
PKD Information at Yale

University of Texas in Galveston, TX:
Genome-wide combinatoril analysis of HNF-1b target genes in kidney
PKD Information at University of Texas Galveston

Hokkaido University School of Medicine in Hokkaido, Japan:
Molecular genetic basis of kidney and liver cyst formation in ADPLD
PKD Information at Hokkaido University

Massacusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA:
The role of HNF-1b in renal development and PKD, and isolation of novel PKD drugs using zebrafish as a disease model
PKD Information at Massachusetts General

Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA:
Role of ATP in shear stress-induced Ca signaling in human kidney cells
PKD Information at Harvard

Core Grants: Year 2, $44,000

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN:
ADPKD Gene Mutation Registry
PKD Information at Mayo

Collaborative Grants: Year 2, $37,500 Each

Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University in Cardiff, UK:
Investigating the relationship between tuberous sclerosis and PKD using mouse models
PKD Information at Institute of Medical Genetics

Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA:
Roles of tuberin (TSC2) and Rheb in cystic kidney disease
PKD Information at Fox Chase Cancer Center

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX:
C-SRC regulation of the functional PKD-1 TSC2 interation
PKD Information at University of Texas MD

Translational Grants: Year 2, $100,000 Each

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN:
Evaluation and treatment of chronic pain in ADPKD
PKD Information at Mayo

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN:
Treatment of polycystic liver disease
PKD Information at Mayo

Mario Negri Institute in Bergamo, Italy:
Effect of long acting somatostatin on disease progression in ADPKD: A long-term three year follow-up study
PKD Information at Mario Negri Institute

Posted February 7, 2008

http://www.pkdfoundation.org/