Kidney Week

Basic/Clinical Science Session

Circulating MicroRNAs as Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Diabetic Kidney Disease

October 22, 2020 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: On-Demand

Session Description

New knowledge is needed to understand mechanisms and to develop new interventions against diabetic kidney disease. Recent discoveries about the biology of microRNAs and their role in kidney pathology provide the basis to consider circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of progressive renal decline in diabetes. Specific microRNAs strongly associated with progressive renal decline can also become possible therapeutic targets to prevent or delay ESKD. In this session, experts in experimental and clinical research discuss the possibilities and limitations in accomplishing such goals.

Learning Objective(s)

• Identify circulating microRNAs as a novel means of cell-to-cell communication and regulation in normal physiology and disease
• Explain how quantifying microRNA profiles in urine and in circulation can be used to predict progressive renal decline in patients with diabetes
• List the ways to prioritize microRNA as therapeutic targets for progressive renal decline in diabetes
• Discuss recent technologies that enable the development of therapies for microRNA targets

Learning Pathway(s)

• Diabetes and Metabolism
• Chronic Kidney Disease

Moderators

• Rama Natarajan, PhD, FASN
• Marcus G. Pezzolesi, PhD, MPH

Presentations

• Exosomal MicroRNAs as Novel Modes of Intertissue Communication
  10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
  Ronald Kahn, MD
  
  Ronald Kahn, MD

Exosomal MicroRNAs as Novel Modes of Intertissue Communication

October 22, 2020 | 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

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• Urinary MicroRNAs in Diabetic Kidney Disease: Biomarkers, Disease Mediators, and Therapeutic Targets
  10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
  Timothy Bowen, PhD 
  
  

  Timothy Bowen, PhD

  Dr Timothy Bowen is currently Reader in Matrix and Molecular Biology at the Wales Kidney Research Unit, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK. Dr Bowen’s postdoctoral career began in 1991, studying Drosophila melanogaster ribosomal RNA gene evolution with Professor Gabby Dover at the Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK. In 1994 he moved to Cardiff University School of Medicine to carry out genomic analyses of human psychiatric disorders with Professor Sir Mike Owen. In 2000, Dr Bowen joined the Wales Kidney Research Unit, where the central theme of his research is the regulation of gene expression in kidney disease. This involves understanding how gene sequences in human genomic DNA give rise to functional RNA and protein products. This knowledge is then translated to inform novel approaches to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of human kidney disease. Gene products have potential utility as kidney disease biomarkers i.e. sentinels of disease occurrence and/or progression, and may represent targets for therapeutic intervention. In this context, Dr Bowen’s research group is interested in functional RNA transcripts including protein-coding RNAs, microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, as well as proteins and the functional molecules that they synthesise such as hyaluronan, a glycosaminoglycan of the extracellular matrix. Current research projects include analysis of microRNAs as biomarkers for diabetic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, peritoneal fibrosis and renal transplantation outcomes. Investigation into the roles of microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs in kidney disease mechanisms such as renal fibrosis is also ongoing.

Urinary MicroRNAs in Diabetic Kidney Disease: Biomarkers, Disease Mediators, and Therapeutic Targets

October 22, 2020 | 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

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• Profiles of Circulating MicroRNAs Associated with Risk of ESKD in Diabetes
  11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  Andrzej S. Krolewski, MD, PhD
  
  Andrzej S. Krolewski, MD, PhD

Profiles of Circulating MicroRNAs Associated with Risk of ESKD in Diabetes

October 22, 2020 | 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

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• Can MicroRNAs Be Targeted Therapeutically to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease?
  11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
  Jeremy Stuart Duffield, MD, MBChB, PhD 
  
  

  Jeremy Stuart Duffield, MD, MBChB, PhD

  Jeremy is Vice President at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where he works with a team that oversees company strategy, partnerships and acquisitions. Working in teams, he also oversees muscle and kidney pre-clinical and clinical programs, including the VX-147 program in FSGS. Previously he was Global Head of Human Biology at Vertex, where the team were involved in establishing many of the current R&D programs. From 2013-2016 he was Senior Research Fellow at Biogen where he co-led the Fibrosis and Regeneration therapeutic area. Jeremy was Professor of Medicine and Pathology at University of Washington, Seattle, preceded by faculty positions in Medicine and Immunology at Harvard Medical School. His lab members published >125 papers on fibrosis and innate immunity, with focus on kidney, lung and liver diseases. He has served on scientific advisory boards and helped start several companies including Regulus therapeutics and Promedior that now have anti-fibrotic therapies in Ph2 and Ph3 clinical trials. To keep sane during the pandemic, he has been campaigning on environmental issues, growing crops, exploring nature, playing croquet, tennis and cycling.

Can MicroRNAs Be Targeted Therapeutically to Treat Diabetic Kidney Disease?

October 22, 2020 | 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

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