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Elucidating principles of kidney and organ involvement in emerging viral infections
Summary
Emerging viral infections, such as COVID-19, pose a serious threat to global health. The wide range of symptoms caused by SARS-CoV-2 shows how important it is to understand how viruses interact with different organs in the body. Research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 affects not only the lungs but also other organs, including the kidneys and liver, and can lead to severe complications such as acute kidney injury.
This project investigates how SARS-CoV-2 damages tissues by analyzing over 200 kidney and 75 liver samples from COVID-19 patients. The team also uses lab-grown human kidney models to track how the virus spreads and acts in kidney tissue over time. The goal is to identify how different organs respond to infection and to develop targeted treatments—both for current and future viral threats, including unknown viruses (“Disease X”).
Our Work Packages (WP):
WP1: Signalling map of SARS-CoV-2 organ- and tissue interaction. This package will focus on building a comprehensive signalling map of SARS-CoV-2 tissue response in the kidney.
WP2: Spatially and temporally resolved map of SARS-CoV-2 tissue action. This package will use human kidney organoids for virus infection to unravel spatial and temporal action of SARS-CoV-2.
WP3: Tissue-specific and pathway-specific interventions. This package will design tissue- and pathway-specific interventions to counteract SARS-CoV-2 actions in the tissue.
This project aims at investigating SARS-CoV-2 organ involvement and its spatial and temporal actions as a means to develop tissue- and pathway-specific therapeutic interventions.
Team
Prof. Dr. Tobias Huber
Principal Investigator
E-mail address:
Phone: +49 (0) 40 7410 - 53908
Research Group Huber
The Research Group Molecular and Translational Nephrology is based at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).
Project related publications
Wanner N#, Andrieux G#, Badia-i-Mompel P, …, Scaturro P#, Puelles VG#, Huber TB#. Molecular consequences of SARS-CoV-2 liver tropism. Nat Metab. 2022;4(3):310–319. doi: 10.1038/s42255-022-00552-6.
Jansen J, Reimer KC, Nagai JS, …, Puelles VG, Floege J, Huber TB; COVID Moonshot consortium; van Rij RP, Costa IG, Schneider RK, Smeets B, Kramann R. SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids. Cell Stem Cell. 2022;29:217–231.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2021.12.010.
Kuppe C#, Ibrahim MM#, Kranz J, …, Huber TB, …, Saez-Rodríguez J, Henderson NC#, Kramann R#. Decoding myofibroblast origins in human kidney fibrosis. Nature. 2021;589:281–286. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2941-1.
Braun F#, Luetgehetmann M#, Pfefferle S#, Wong MN#, …, Edler C#, Aepfelbacher M#, Puelles VG#, Huber TB#. SARS-CoV-2 renal tropism associates with acute kidney injury. Lancet. 2020;396:597–598. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31759-1.
Puelles VG#, Lütgehetmann M#, Lindenmeyer MT#, Sperhake JP#, …, Pueschel K, Aepfelbacher M, Huber TB. Multiorgan and renal tropism of SARS-CoV-2. N Engl J Med. 2020;383:590–592. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2011400.
Gross O, Moerer O, Weber M, Huber TB, Scheithauer S. COVID-19-associated nephritis: early warning for disease severity and complications? Lancet. 2020;395:e87–e88. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31041-2.
Zhao S, Ivilinov Todorov MM, Cai R, Al-Maskari RA, …, Huber TB, …, Wolf E, Bechmann I, Ertürk A. Cellular and molecular probing of intact human organs. Cell. 2020;180:796–812.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.030.
Brinkkoetter PT#, Bork T#, Salou S#, …, Handschin C, Schell C, Huber TB. Anaerobic glycolysis maintains the glomerular filtration barrier independent of mitochondrial metabolism and dynamics. Cell Rep. 2019;27:1551–1566.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.012.
Rinschen MM#, Gödel M#, Grahammer F#, …, Dengjel J, Benzing T, Huber TB. A multi-layered quantitative in vivo expression atlas of the podocyte unravels kidney disease candidate genes. Cell Rep. 2018;23:2495–2508. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.04.059.
Schell C, Sabass B, Helmstaedter M, …, Dengjel J, Rogg M#, Huber TB#. ARP3 controls the podocyte architecture at the kidney filtration barrier. Dev Cell. 2018;47:741–757.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.11.011.
#equally contributing authors