More than 20,000 Australians need kidney dialysis or a transplant and many die every year from kidney failure. The leading cause of organ failure is fibrosis, the development of excess fibrous connective tissue. However fibrosis has been extremely difficult to treat because drugs that prevent it can also block the body’s ability to heal and reduce inflammation.
We are researching a new way of targeting kidney fibrosis and preventing kidney failure. Fibrosis is caused by the growth factor TGF-β, which is also anti-inflammatory. We have identified a unique way of preventing TGF-β from causing fibrosis, while maintaining its important anti-inflammatory properties.
This world-first research hold implications beyond kidney disease, as the ability to prevent fibrosis will also benefit research into liver and heart failure.
Research Directions
- Molecular and cellular mechanisms of kidney injury repair and fibrosis.
- Therapeutic targeting of TGF-β in treatment of chronic kidney disease.