Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a prevalent disorder characterized by renal cysts that lead to kidney failure. Various signaling pathways have been targeted to stop disease progression, but most interventions still focus on alleviating PKD-associated symptoms. The mechanistic complexity of the disease, as well as the lack of functional in vitro assays for compound testing, has made drug disc...

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD Autosomal dominant (AD) polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is the most common life-threatening hereditary disorder. There is currently no therapy that slows or prevents cyst formation and kidney enlargement in humans. An increasing number of animal studies have advanced our understanding of molecular and cellular targets of PKD. AREAS COVERED IN THE REVIEW The purpose of ...

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), characterized by the formation of numerous kidney cysts, is caused by PKD1 or PKD2 mutations and affects 0.1% of the population. Although recent clinical studies indicate that reduction of cAMP levels slows progression of PKD, this finding has not led to an established safe and effective therapy for patients, indicating the need to find new ...

Polycystic kidney diseases (PKDs) are inherited disorders characterized by the formation of fluid filled renal cysts. Elevated cAMP levels in PKDs stimulate progressive cyst enlargement involving cell proliferation and transepithelial fluid secretion often leading to end-stage renal disease. The glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) family of protein kinases consists of GSK3α and GSK3β isoforms and...

Autosomal polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a genetic disorder with two causal PKD-1 and PKD-2. Genetic studies have demonstrated an important allelic variability between patients but few data are known about genetic variants in African populations. We report a new mutation found in a 41-year old women with mild chronic kidney disease secondary to ADPKD. Molecular genetic testing found a del...

Data standards provide a structure for consistent understanding and exchange of data and enable the integration of data across studies for integrated analysis. There is no data standard applicable to kidney disease. We describe the process for development of the first-ever Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) data standard for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPK...

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is one of the most common hereditary diseases in humans, accounting for almost 5-10% of subjects on renal replacement therapies1. Although clinical symptoms occur most frequently in adult life, the hereditary nature of PKD has permitted the screening of first degree relatives and therefore to reach a diagnosis in early adulthood. That said, early diagnosis per se...

BACKGROUND An inappropriate activation of the mTOR pathway was demonstrated in the autosomal dominant (AD) form of polycystic kidney disease (PKD). To date it is unclear whether the mTOR pathway is activated in autosomal-recessive (AR) PKD, a cystic disease which occurs in childhood. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the mTOR pathway in AR PKD. METHODS We evaluated the expressi...

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease characterized by formation and progressive enlargement of cysts in kidneys, liver and other organs, leading to end stage renal disease by the fifth decade [1]. Mutations in the PKD1 gene encoding polycystin-1 are responsible for 85% of ADPKD cases, while mutations in the PKD2 gene cause 15% of ADPKD cases with a le...

The spectrum of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) comprises a family of inherited syndromes defined by renal cyst formation and growth, progressive renal function loss and variable extrarenal manifestations. The most common form, autosomal-dominant PKD is caused by mutations in one of two genes, PKD1 or PKD2. Recent developments in genomic and proteomic medicine have resulted in the discovery of ...