Investigating the renal microvasculature in polycystic kidney disease

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60,000 people in the UK have long term severe kidney disease. There is currently no cure and patients require dialysis or transplantation. One of the leading causes of long term kidney disease is polycystic kidneys. Our previous work has shown that one of the earliest events in the progressive decline of polycystic kidneys is changes in the small blood vessels of the kidney. Furthermore, we have shown that treatments using proteins which restore and stabilise these blood vessels improve disease progression. However, we do not yet fully understand how these treatments work. This will be investigated in this proposal by a team of scientists and clinicians based at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and the University of Manchester using high resolution imaging, high-throughput sequencing technology and models which replicate polycystic kidney disease. These investigations will enhance our knowledge of how blood vessels are involved in kidney health and disease. Furthermore, if these studies are successful, it could be a new exciting therapeutic avenue for kidney patients in the future.