Polycystic kidney disease research

Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited genetic disorder that causes multiple cysts to grow in the kidneys, increasing their size and preventing them from functioning normally. 

About half of the people with this disease suffer from kidney failure. It accounts for 10% of patients on dialysis and is the third leading cause of end-stage renal disease.

Polycystic kidney disease can also lead to cysts in other parts of the body, such as the liver, and cause serious complications such as high blood pressure and other problems in the blood vessels of the brain and heart.

At Cima Universidad de Navarra, we investigate polycystic kidney disease focusing on the development and innovation of gene therapy treatments with specific vectors targeting renal cells. We seek to evaluate their therapeutic potential in the laboratory in order to promote their translation to the clinic.

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We dream of curing polycystic kidney disease

There are limited therapeutic options to act on the damaged kidney, with gene therapy being a hope for patients.

We seek to design advanced vehicles for the transport of therapeutic genes to damaged renal cells.

We do research to develop such "smart" vehicles based on chimeric vectors.

We work to optimize these therapies and expedite their delivery to patients as quickly as possible.

REFERENCES IN GENE THERAPY RESEARCH

Research Group in Gene Therapy of Renal Diseases and Study of N-terminal Acetylation of Proteins

Reference team in research on monogenic genetic diseases, specialized in the development of gene therapy vectors based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV) capable of transferring therapeutic genetic material to different types of renal cells.

It is part of the Gene Therapy and Regulation of Gene Expression Program.