Nephrology

Overview

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition that causes proteinuria, hematuria, and a decline of kidney function. About 13 million patients are suffering from CKD in Japan, which is considered as an emerging nationwide disease. The number of patients progressing from CKD to end-stage renal disease who need to start dialysis therapy is increasing. It soars the medical cost of dialysis to 1.6 trillion yen nationally, or about 4% of the total medical expense in Japan. Thus, developing new therapeutic agents for CKD is urgent to reduce the number of new dialysis inductions. Our department aims to elucidate why CKD progresses through basic research. We also conduct clinical research on CKD.

Professor:
Katsuhiko Asanuma

TEL: +81-43-226-2021
FAX: +81-43-226-2607
e-mail: kasanuma●chiba-u.jp
URL: https://www.m.chiba-u.jp/dept/nephrology/

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Research & Education

Analyzing the Mechanisms of Podocyte Injury
Podocytes are highly specialized epithelial cells covering the glomerular capillary outside. Therefore, podocyte injury causes proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis, leading to CKD. Ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy are major protein degradation mechanisms. We investigate the effect of decreasing these functions on podocyte injury and CKD progression. Podocytes have a cell body with numerous foot processes. Neighboring foot processes are interconnected by slit diaphragms(SD), which work as the final barrier to hemofiltration. We are studying the regulation of SD-related proteins such as MAGI-2 and Dendrin to suppress CKD progression.

Optical Clearing of Human Kidney Biopsy Samples
Clearing the paraffinized human kidney biopsy sample can be helpful for diagnosis, revealing pathological changes that are not detected on conventional analysis.

Clinical Research of CKD
In clinical research, we study the effects of patient education and rehabilitation for CKD and intestinal bacteria of patients with CKD. We are also conducting research in collaboration with the Department of AI Medicine to develop a medical assistance system for dialysis patients.

Recent Publications

Yamada H,Shirata N, Makino S, Miyake T, Trejo JAO,Yamamoto-Nonaka K, Kikyo M, Empitu MA, Kadariswantiningsih IN,Kimura M, Ichimura K, Hideki Yokoi H, Mukoyama M, Hotta A, Nishimori K, Yanagita M, Asanuma K. MAGI2 synergistically orchestrates the localization of backbone proteins in slit diaphragms with other scaffold proteins. Kidney Int.99: 382-395. 2021
Makino S, Shirata N, Trejo JAO, Yamamoto-Nonaka K, Yamada H, Miyake T, Mori K, Nakagawa T, Tashiro Y, Yamashita H, Yanagita M, Takahashi R, Asanuma K. Dysfunction of proteasome in podocytes results in chronic kidney disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 32. 597-613. 2021
Linh H, Iwata Y, Senda Y, Sakai-Takemori Y, Nakade Y, Oshima M, Yoneda-Nakagawa S, Ogura H, Sato K, Minami T, Kitajima S, Toyama T, Yamamura Y, Miyakawa T, Hara A, Shimizu M, Furuichi K, Sakai N, Yamada H, Asanuma K, Matsushima K, Wada T. Intestinal Bacterial Translocation Contributes to Diabetic Kidney Disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2022 Mar 9:ASN.2021060843. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2021060843.