Project description:In stable renal transplant recipients with hyperparathyroidism, the vitamin D agonist paricalcitol reduces the level of proteinuria. Animal studies have indicated possible anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of paricalcitol. We hypothesised that early introduction of paricalcitol in de novo renal transplant recipients would reduce proteinuria and counteract development of fibrosis in the allograft.
Project description:In stable renal transplant recipients with hyperparathyroidism, the vitamin D agonist paricalcitol reduces the level of proteinuria. Animal studies have indicated possible anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of paricalcitol. We hypothesised that early introduction of paricalcitol in de novo renal transplant recipients would reduce proteinuria and counteract development of fibrosis in the allograft. A single centre, prospective, randomized, open label trial investigating the additional effect of paricalcitol 2ug/day to standard care was performed. Participants were included 8 weeks after engraftment irrespective of PTH-level and followed for 44 weeks. Microarray analyses were performed in kidney biopsies at study end for the investigation of potential effects on gene expression profile. This dataset is part of the TransQST collection.
Project description:Tacrolimus (TAC) is an immunosuppressant widely used in kidney transplantation. TAC displays considerable inter-individual variability in pharmacokinetics (PK). Genetic and clinical factors play important roles in TAC PK. To define genetic factors associated with tacrolimus blood trough concentration, we performed a genome-wide association study of renal transplant samples from 251 Chinese renal transplant recipients. We identified 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to TAC PK variability. All 23 genome-wide significant SNPs (p<5E-8) were located on chromosome 7, including rs776746. These findings suggest that these SNPs may be associated with the unexlained TAC PK variability in renal transplant recipients and require further investigation.
Project description:We study the global gene expression profiles of BKV viremia and nephropathy patients using microarrays in order to better understand the immunologic response to polyomavirus BK (BKV). BKV has become increasingly prevalent since the introduction of more potent immunosuppressive agents. It has been shown that as many as 30% of renal transplant recipients develop asymptomatic viral shedding in the urine shortly after transplant, 10-20% have viremia, and as many as 1-10% can go on to develop overt nephropathy (BKVN) that might lead to graft loss. To date, the genomics of BKV viremia and BKVN have not been investigated thoroughly by microarray.
Project description:TransplantLines is designed as a single-center, prospective cohort study and biobank including all different types of solid organ transplant recipients as well as living organ donors. In the TransplantLines gut microbiome study the gut microbiome of solid organ transplant recipients is characterized and linked to clinical phenotypes. This batch contains the cross-sectional data from liver transplant recipients and longitudinal data from renal and liver transplant recipients.
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.