Request for Funding

Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2001

Mentor: Peter Igarashi, M.D.

Department: Internal Medicine/Nephrology

Room number: H5.102

Mail Code: MC8856

Phone number: 82754

E-mail: peter.igarashi@utsouthwestern.edu

Project title: Developmental abnormalities in Pkd2 mutant mice

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 0862-00-03-1

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects) Animal-based research

Brief Description of Project:

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common, potentially lethal genetic disease in humans. Two distinct genes that cause ADPKD have been cloned, named PKD1 and PKD2. Knockout mice in which the mouse Pkd2 gene has been disrupted exhibit severe abnormalities of kidney development, including cyst formation. The purpose of this project is to identify the molecular defects in the kidneys of Pkd2 mutant mice. Studies will be performed to examine the expression of transcription factors, cell adhesion molecules, signaling molecules, and markers of nephron differentiation in Pkd2 mutant kidneys. Cell proliferation and apoptosis will also be measured. These studies will help elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of a clinically important renal disease.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

1. Blaurock, M.C., Rebouças, N.A., Kusnezov, J.L., and Igarashi, P. (1995) Phylogenetically conserved sequences in the promoter of the rabbit sodium-hydrogen exchanger isoform 1 gene (NHE1/SLC9A1). Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1262: 159-163.

Return to UT Southwestern Homepage

Return to Student Research Projects Index