Preserving kidney health in diabetes patients remains a significant challenge due to complications that arise over time. Sandeep Mallipattu, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University, conducts research into the communication between cells within the kidneys. This process is integral to maintaining the health and functionality of kidneys.
Mallipattu’s research is supported by a $2.76 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will run until February 2029.
Data from the National Kidney Foundation shows that nearly one-third of Type 1 diabetes patients and between 10 and 40 percent of Type 2 diabetes patients will ultimately experience kidney failure.
“The major cause of kidney disease in the United States is diabetes, therefore understanding mechanisms of how diabetes can cause kidney disease are critical to identifying novel therapeutics to reverse disease,” Mallipattu stated.
The NIDDK grant is enabling Mallipattu to explore how cell-to-cell communication in the kidney is crucial for maintaining kidney health in diabetes. His team is testing a novel signaling cascade between major kidney cell types, aiming to preserve kidney health and potentially prevent diabetic kidney disease (DKD).
Key cell types in this research are podocytes, which form a filtration barrier in the kidney, and proximal tubule cells, essential for the kidney's metabolic activity and electrolyte management.
While podocyte loss and glomerular injury often trigger DKD, Mallipattu highlights that the degree of proximal tubular injury is crucial in determining the progression to end-stage kidney disease.
“We postulate that the podocytes can signal the proximal tubule to precondition it against injury and slow the progression of DKD in the setting of diabetes,” Mallipattu explained.
Mallipattu hopes that the investigation into the signaling cascade between the cell types will validate this hypothesis.
This research extends Mallipattu’s previous work, published in Nature Communications, which explores whether a specific gene can arrest the progression of DKD.
Further details about Mallipattu’s kidney disease research at RSOM are available on the Mallipattu Lab website.