Dong Zhou
University of Connecticut, CT·Physiology
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden loss of kidney function, and US hospitalizations complicated by it rose 42% between 2009 and 2019. Most research focuses on the kidney tubules, the tiny tubes that are damaged first.
- Fields
Physiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biology
- Topics
acute kidney injury
kidney repair
renal tubules
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2027
What they work on
- Determine the mechanistic role of extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1), a secreted matrix protein switched on within hours of injury, in forming the kidney microenvironment after acute kidney injury, using ex vivo approaches.
- Define how injured tubule cells, activated fibroblasts and macrophages each contribute to building the kidney microenvironment after AKI, including signaling by the growth factor Sonic Hedgehog (Shh).
- Test in vivo whether ECM1-organized cell-matrix interactions, through recruitment of Shh, promote kidney repair after ischemic AKI.
More about the research
Much less is known about the surrounding neighborhood, or microenvironment, which helps tubules recover. This neighborhood includes support cells called fibroblasts, immune cells such as macrophages, secreted signals, and the extracellular matrix (ECM), the protein scaffold between cells.
Why it matters
Acute kidney injury is increasingly common in hospitalized patients, and few treatments exist to prevent or reverse it. Understanding how ECM1 and Sonic Hedgehog organize kidney repair could help build an early warning system for AKI. It could also point to new therapeutic strategies, such as ECM1-based approaches, to prevent or reduce kidney damage.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Mon-Wei Yu
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Determine whether C5a–C5aR1 signaling in renal tubular epithelial cells, the cells lining kidney tubules, drives cellular senescence and kidney fibrosis after injury, using mouse models.
Jeffrey Beamish
University of Michigan, MI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define the genes that the transcription factor Pax8 controls in kidney proximal tubule cells before and after ischemic injury, using new in vivo and in vitro models of normal and regenerating epithelium.
Jacqueline Ho
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether turning on the miR-17~92 microRNA cluster in adult kidney tubule lining cells is enough to protect mice against kidney fibrosis, using genetically engineered mice in which the cluster can be switched on.
The school
University of Connecticut: 31 labs on PI Pages, $434M a year on research, 360 research doctorates a year.
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