The Department of Medicine is pleased to announce that Sian Piret, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, recently received Notice of Award for her NIH R01 grant: Role of branched-chain amino acid catabolism in the proximal tubule.
Learn more about this important NIH funded research:
Abstract Text
Acute kidney injury (AKI) causes significant morbidity and mortality, both of itself and as a major risk factor for development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The proximal tubule (PT) is the primary target of AKI, triggering profound changes in PT cellular metabolism that contribute to injury. Whilst uninjured PT cells utilize fatty acid oxidation (FAO), TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation to generate ATP, in injury, these processes are severely downregulated, with inadequate compensation from glycolysis. Experimental upregulation of FAO can partially rescue AKI, but these strategies have so far not translated to clinical use. Furthermore, loss of the key FAO regulator PPARa does not result in PT injury at baseline, suggesting that other important PT metabolic pathways remain to be described.
Congratulations to Dr. Piret, and learn more about the important research in the Piret Lab here.
