Renal Biology
Half of all children with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) have renal malformations and most others have genetic disorders of epithelial differentiation. Furthermore, 10% of adults with ESRF have renal anomalies.
Paediatric Nephrology Department
In the Paediatric Nephrology Department at the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital 2000 patients are reviewed annually including 120 with ESRF. There is a track record in randomised controlled trials of immunosuppressive, antiproteinuric and antihypertensive agents, with links with the Medicines for Children Local Research Network and the Wellcome Trust Childrens Clinical Research Facility (Director, Nick Webb).
Manchester Biomedical Research Centre
The Childrens Hospital is part of the Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, an aggregation of researchers focusing on Genetics and Developmental Medicine.
Recently, two Clinician Scientists joined the Department:
Adrian S. Woolf, Chair of Paediatric Science, has authored over 100 original research articles in the field of normal and abnormal renal tract development, and Rachel Lennon, Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow, is building up a podocyte cell biology research programme
Current lines of research
Adrian S. Woolf studies genetic and environmental pathogenesis of renal malformations. Recent discoveries include observations that:
- The Teashirt-3 transcription factor drives ureteric smooth muscle differentiation
- There is no major genetic locus for primary vesicoureteric reflux
- Growth factors rescue a genetic model of renal agenesis
- Glucocorticoids cause cystic kidney development by upregulating hedgehog signalling
Rachel Lennon uses podocytes to test the hypothesis that adhesion within glomeruli is critical to health and that this is compromised in proteinuric disease. In the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, she examines adhesion receptor signalling networks in health and disease models. Her aims are to improve understanding of mechanisms of disease which will be the first step towards developing targeted treatment for proteinuria.