The O'Brien Center for Renal Inflammation has the mission of furthering our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the initiation, maintenance, and resolution of inflammation in renal disease. Renal inflammation is recognized to have a critical role in the pathogenesis of acute renal failure, glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, and progressive renal disease. In this Center application, we have brought together scientists with expertise in different aspects of inflammation to provide a cohesive and comprehensive investigation of the mechanisms involved in renal inflammation. The multidisciplinary approach will focus on both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms with an emphasis on molecules that have either not received much attention (e.g., uric acid) or that have only recently been identified as having a role in inflammation. The latter includes new chemokines (CXCL16), new adhesion molecules (JAM family), the recently discovered Slit/Robo family, the signaling molecule Smad7, and stanniocalcin. A pathology core that focuses on the role of these molecules in human disease will provide clinical relevance and will be a mechanism for translating basic science observations for potential future clinical research application. The Center will also train fellowship candidates for a career in academic nephrology (in concert with a T-32 training grant which is currently under review), help initiate the careers of junior investigators (via the DR/P&F program), and provide a strong interaction with the other Centers at Baylor that also focus on the inflammatory response (such as the Biology of Inflammation Center). The integrated, multidisciplinary, synergistic and comprehensive approach to study renal inflammation should provide a better understanding of the pathogenesis of renal disease and may provide new therapeutic insights.
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