Work package #5

Work package #5: Chronic kidney disease (Renal Cell Biology Group, Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology)
WP leader: Prof. K. Endlich

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major and increasing health problem in industrialized countries. By the end of 2005, 87,151 patients with end-stage kidney disease were treated in Germany for which more than 2 billion EUR have to be spent per year. In the majority of cases, end-stage renal disease develops from glomerular disease as a consequence of podocyte damage or loss. Podocytes are terminally differentiated cells that are unable to replicate. Therapies that are able to halt or reverse CKD are not available. To date, dialysis and kidney transplantation are the only options to handle terminal renal insufficiency. Since podocytes are an essential part of the filtration barrier, podocyte damage always results in proteinuria. The morphological correlate of an intact filtration barrier is the interdigitating pattern of podocyte foot processes, which are slender actin-based processes of about 200 nm width and 1-2 µm length. The molecular mechanisms of formation, maintenance, effacement and reformation of foot processes are largely unknown. It is the central goal of our research to understand these molecular mechanisms for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to treat CKD by studying the cellular dynamics of podocyte damage using two-photon microscopy.