Are you kidneying me?

Understanding how to promote kidney cell growth to repair injury, or cell death to destroy kidney cancer cells, requires knowledge of the basic biology of the kidney at a cellular level, and how this can be altered by genetic variation in an individual at a population level. The presentation will describe how tools have been developed to understand how tumour necrosis factor (TNF), originally described as a molecule that can kill tumour cells, can promote both kidney injury and repair.

Dysregulated mitochondrial function is associated with the pathology of renal disease and cancer. Renal cell carcinomas exhibit inactivation of the VHL gene, leading to constitutive hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) activation which drives tumour progression and metastasis. I will present how VHL-HIF axis separately controls mitochondrial function and metabolism in renal cell carcinoma and discuss our identification of novel small molecule therapeutic agents that target these processes and exhibit potent anti-tumour activity in renal cell carcinoma.

Transplantation is the best form of treatment for most patients with kidney failure; patients have a better quantity of life than those receiving dialysis and they live longer. However, one major challenge is a shortage of suitable organs, so some patients wait a long time for a kidney to be offered to them. In this talk, I will discuss how we are applying the most advanced research tools to human kidney samples to help decide whether a kidney is good enough to transplant.

As part of the Creative Reactions project, these artists will be presenting their artwork inspired by the research of speakers in this talk series. The artwork will also be on display at our Creative Reactions Exhibition at St Barnabas Church, 24 - 25 May.