This week we profile a recent publication in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
from Dr. Shreeram Akilesh (pictured) at the University of Washington.
Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus?
The Akilesh laboratory studies genome organization and function in the kidney.
What is the significance of the findings in this publication?
The kidney filter (glomerulus) is an important structure that is affected in numerous diseases such as diabetes. This study generates the first reported maps of genome structure and function in the kidney glomerulus. Using integrative analysis methods, it identifies novel target genes and pathways for human kidney disease.
What are the next steps for this research?
We are validating several novel pathways as targets for the treatment of human kidney disease. We are also improving the resolution of our methods to more precisely analyze other key cells types in the human kidney.
This research was funded by:
Dr. Akilesh was supported, in part, by a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellowship (DRG 114-13). Sequencing and data processing was supported by a National Human Genome Research Institute grant to Dr. John A. Stamatoyannopoulos (U54HG007010). This project was also supported by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grants to J.H. (5UH3TR000504 and 1UG3TR002158), a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant (P30DK017047) to the University of Washington Diabetes Research Center, and by an unrestricted gift from the Northwest Kidney Centers to the Kidney Research Institute. Infrastructure for the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium is supported, in part, by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant R01HL105756.
