The research of the Department of Molecular Medicine is closely linked to that of the Department of Renal Medicine and aims to understand the mechanisms of damage that lead to the loss of kidney function in chronic kidney diseases, and the development of strategies that avoid the patients needing dialysis or transplantation.
• Identification of mediators and mechanisms of action responsible for loss of kidney function in kidney disease
• Development of pharmacological, cellular and molecular therapeutic strategies to slow the progression of kidney disease to terminal renal failure and induce regression of chronic kidney damage
• Study of kidney and heart regeneration mechanisms induced by renoprotective therapies or identification of progenitor cells
• Generation of functioning kidney units from isolated embryonic cells
• Generation of pluripotent stem cells induced (ipsc) by patients with rare diseases and development of ipsc differentiation protocols towards a renal phenotype
• Correction of gene mutations in ipsc of rare disease patients by CRISPR/Cas9 technique
• Gene editing of ipsc using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate disease models
• Analysis of the mechanisms and factors responsible for the loss of endothelial thrombooresistance in thrombotic microangiopathies
• Development of new strategies, including cell therapy, to modulate the post-transplant immune response and prevent acute and chronic rejection of organ transplantation; study of possible immunological pathways leading to transplanted organ tolerance
• Development of cellular and pharmacological therapies to slow the progression of diabetic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes
• Study of immunological changes in patients with immune-mediated kidney disease including membranous nephropathy and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome
• Development of organ-on-chip to reproduce in vitro functions of complex human structures
• Experimental models of kidney disease representative of human diseases, to study vasoactive and inflammatory mediators, and to test new drugs that reduce proteinuria and induce lesion regression
• Advanced microscopy techniques for morphological-ultrastructural characterization of lesions associated with kidney disease
• Cell therapy for acute and chronic renal failure using stem cells of different origin (bone marrow, umbilical cord, amniotic fluid)
• Both glomerular and tubular renal cell lines
• Functional tests on kidney cells in vitro
• Induced pluripotent stem cells (ipsc)
• Organoid and organ-on-chip generation with tissue engineering systems
• In vitro models to study the interaction of vascular endothelial cells with leukocytes and platelets under controlled flow conditions
• Experimental models of kidney, heart, lung and liver allograft to study the immunological processes responsible for acute and chronic rejection and to identify tolerance induction strategies
• Ex-vivo immunological test with peripheral blood cells
• Gene transfer by viral constructs containing genes for immunomodulatory molecules as a strategy to prevent chronic rejection of the transplanted organ and to reduce or avoid immunosuppressive therapy. Using viral constructs to correct genetic defects
• Demonstrated that in acute kidney disease stem cells can repair kidney damage
• Obtained a nephron (kidney functional unit) in the laboratory from stem cells
• Repopulated with stem cells a diseased kidney previously deprived of its cells
• Development in experimental models of the ideal cell therapy strategy to avoid rejection of organ transplantation without immunosuppressive drugs
• Transplant tolerance induced in kidney transplant patients. Found a way to teach the body to tolerate transplanted organ without anti-rejection drugs
• Proven feasibility and safety of cell therapy in diabetic and nephrotic syndrome patients
• Development of new therapies for different rare diseases and helped to understand how these drugs work
• Developed in vitro models of rare genetic diseases using ipsc
• Repair of diabetic organs by pharmacological modulation of the thyroid hormone pathway
INF-ACT- One Health Basic and TranslationalResearch Actions addressing Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Diseases
Sponsor: PNRR – Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca
Research Area: Emerging infectious diseases
Nanomedicinefor organ transplantation tolerance (PHOENIX)
Sponsor: European Commission
Research Area: Solid organ transplantation
Treating autosomal dominantpolycystic kidney disease by using inhalable thyroid hormone-nanocarriers
Sponsor: Fondazione Telethon
Research Area: Nefrology/Polycistic Kidney
Microvascular thrombosis and inflammation induced bySARS-CoV-2 infection: the complement system as a novel target for therapy inCOVID-19
Sponsor: Finalizzata Giovani ricercatori –Ministero della Salute
Research Area: Covid
Studio degli effetti funzionali di anomalie genetiche identificate nel fattore delcomplemento C3 in pazienti affetti da Glomerulopatia da C3
Sponsor: Cassa di Sovvenzioni e Risparmio fra il Personale della Bancad’Italia
Research Area: Rare Disease/Complement Disease
PLA2R-autoreactivEB-cell subsets in membranous nePhropaThy: Identification of outcome predictors andnovel insights into Disease pathogenesis (PEPTIDE)
Sponsor: FRRB (FondazioneRegionale Ricerca Biomedica)
Research Area: Immunology
MultidisciplinaryTraining in Chronic Kidney Disease: from genetic modifiers to drug discovery(TrainCKDis)
Sponsor: European Commission
Research Area: Cronic Nefropathy
Cell-basedtherapy for Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
Sponsor: Fondazione Telethon
Research Area: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
The Research Center for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS Center) brings together the groups that are involved in ALS research from an epidemiological, preclinicaland translational point of view.