MRC DTP in Precision Medicine

Determining the role of extracellular vesicles to the brain-kidney axis

Supervisors

Dr Lorraine M. Work, School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow 

Dr Martin W. McBride, School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow 

Dr Laura Denby, Institute of Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research, University of Edinburgh

Summary

he brain-kidney axis is a bidirectional communication network that has an important role in homeostasis but is increasingly recognized to underlie disease. Considering the brain-kidney axis, a systematic review of >4.5 million people demonstrated that acute kidney injury is a common complication with an incidence of 12.9% in those who have had a stroke. Meanwhile, for the kidney-brain axis, clinical studies demonstrate that those with chronic kidney disease have an increased risk of cognitive impairment. The precise mechanism underpinning the brain:kidney crosstalk remains unclear but we and others have established that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are key mediators in cross-cellular communication in several disease states.

This PhD project will use a precision medicine approach coupled with detailed physiological and inflammatory phenotyping from preclinical models (in vitro and in vivo) to clinical translational studies to characterize the contributory role of EVs and their contents to the effect of brain/kidney injury on the kidney/brain reciprocally. The combined supervisory expertise of the team will enable this ambitious cross-disciplinary project. The impact of the outcome of these studies could have wide ranging implications for patient stratification following brain or kidney injury leading to more targeted rehabilitation and pharmacological intervention.