Posted on | CategoriesHealth and Disease / Internal Medicine | PI: Donald Kohan, MD, PhD

Finding New Ways to Treat Kidney Disease

Research in the Kohan lab, using genetically engineered mice, has helped identify the peptide, endothelin-1, and its receptor, ETA, as key regulators of blood pressure and kidney function in health. They have also helped determine that kidney ET-1 production is increased in many kidney diseases and, via activation of ETA receptors on most kidney cell types, leads to inflammation, scarring and decreased kidney function. Continue reading → Finding New Ways to Treat Kidney Disease
Posted on | CategoriesHealth and Disease / Internal Medicine | PI: Tianxin Yang, MD, PhD

(Pro)Renin Receptor: A Novel Target for Hypertension, Kidney Disease, and Metabolic Syndrome

The enzyme renin plays a role in the development of hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Studies in mice and rats unexpectedly uncovered other biological activities of the receptor for renin and its precursor, (pro)renin receptor (PRR). University of Utah Health researcher Tianxin Yang, MD, PhD, and colleagues have made a series of new discoveries about the function of PRR. They demonstrated that PRR activation stimulates sodium and water retention by the kidney, causing hypertension; over-activation of PRR also causes kidney damage. Targeting this pathway with a compound that blocks PRR is highly effective in treating hypertension and chronic kidney disease in rodents. Continue reading → (Pro)Renin Receptor: A Novel Target for Hypertension, Kidney Disease, and Metabolic Syndrome