New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Strides made toward drug therapy for inherited kidney disease

Date:
October 27, 2011
Source:
University of California - Santa Barbara
Summary:
Scientists have discovered that patients with an inherited kidney disease may be helped by a drug that is currently available for other uses.
Share:
FULL STORY

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered that patients with an inherited kidney disease may be helped by a drug that is currently available for other uses. The findings are published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Over 600,000 people in the U.S., and 12 million worldwide, are affected by the inherited kidney disease known as autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The disease is characterized by the proliferation of thousands of cysts that eventually debilitate the kidneys, causing kidney failure in half of all patients by the time they reach age 50. ADPKD is one of the leading causes of renal failure in the U.S.

"Currently, no treatment exists to prevent or slow cyst formation, and most ADPKD patients require kidney transplants or lifelong dialysis for survival," said Thomas Weimbs, director of the laboratory at UCSB where the discovery was made. Weimbs is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and in the Neuroscience Research Institute at UCSB.

Recent work in the Weimbs laboratory has revealed a key difference between kidney cysts and normal kidney tissue. They found that the STAT6 signaling pathway -- previously thought to be mainly important in immune cells -- is activated in kidney cysts, while it is dormant in normal kidneys. Cystic kidney cells are locked in a state of continuous activation of this pathway, which leads to the excessive proliferation and cyst growth in ADPKD.

The drug Leflunomide, which is clinically approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, has previously been shown to inhibit the STAT6 pathway in cells. Weimbs and his team found that Leflunomide is also highly effective in reducing kidney cyst growth in a mouse model of ADPKD.

"These results suggest that the STAT6 pathway is a promising drug target for possible future therapy of ADPKD," said Weimbs. "This possibility is particularly exciting because drugs that inhibit the STAT6 pathway already exist, or are in active development."


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - Santa Barbara. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. E. E. Olsan, S. Mukherjee, B. Wulkersdorfer, J. M. Shillingford, A. J. Giovannone, G. Todorov, X. Song, Y. Pei, T. Weimbs. Signal transducer and activator of transcription-6 (STAT6) inhibition suppresses renal cyst growth in polycystic kidney disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1111966108

Cite This Page:

University of California - Santa Barbara. "Strides made toward drug therapy for inherited kidney disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 October 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027150215.htm>.
University of California - Santa Barbara. (2011, October 27). Strides made toward drug therapy for inherited kidney disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027150215.htm
University of California - Santa Barbara. "Strides made toward drug therapy for inherited kidney disease." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027150215.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES