August 2019
by Ricardo Romero Guevara, Postdoctoral Researcher
Three faculty members of the University of Nicosia Medical School, Dr Christodoulos Xinaris (project coordinator), Professor Adonis Ioannides (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) and Postdoctoral Researcher Ricardo Romero Guevara launched earlier this year a research project on ‘Human pluripotent stem cells for modelling Alport disease’. The project aims to develop an in vitro human model of Alport nephritis, a genetic chronic kidney disease that can lead to end stage renal disease in many cases and is currently without a cure. To this aim, the researchers will generate induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients’ own cells, which will then be guided to differentiate into kidney cells and tissues in order to study the disease in a patient-specific manner.
In particular, researchers will first optimize the conditions for the generation of podocytes, the major cell type that is affected by the disease and is responsible for filtering the blood in the kidneys, and kidney organoids, which are 3D structures reminiscent of an embryonic kidney, constituting the main tools for the study of the disease. Then, using these optimised conditions, the team will compare the podocytes and organoids differentiated from Alport patient-derived stem cells and controls in order to understand in more detail the molecular causes of the disease. This study is an important preliminary step in the search for new pharmacological targets in the treatment of Alport nephritis, and possibly other types of kidney diseases and it is therefore of great significance for the field and Alport patients . In addition, since this is the first of its type in Cyprus, it will benefit both the University of Nicosia (UNIC) and the Cypriot scientific community. The UNIC team will partner with Professor Kyriakos Kyriakou from the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) and Dr Eleni Frangou, a nephrologist from Limassol General Hospital, to accomplish this ambitious project.
Click for the paper here.