BU Research Blog

The Physiological Society is Europe’s largest network of physiologists, so it was a great privilege to be invited to give a plenary talk at the Renal physiology: Recent advances and emerging concepts satellite symposia in Aberdeen last week. This followed on from work conducted at BU using fruit flies to study human kidney function and which most recently contributed to research published in Nature Communications. We’ve been studying insect cells called nephrocytes for several years because of their tractability and genetic similarity to human kidney cells called podocytes – cells crucial to the kidney’s role in filtration and excretion. The insects cells offer us opportunities to modulate genes and infer what may happen in human diseases. The Nature Comms paper and Phys Soc talk detailed the work we collaborated on that identified a metabolic pathway in podocytes governed by a gene called GSK3, this pathway now represents a potential target for the control of kidney disease in diabetics.