South Middlesex Times

Researchers at Rutgers University have made strides in understanding polycystic kidney disease (PKD), potentially paving the way for new treatments. In a study published in Nature Communications, geneticists have shed light on how the disease progresses by investigating the roles of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the development of PKD.

EVs, once considered cellular waste, are now known to play roles in disease progression, acting as transporters for proteins and other materials. Inna Nikonorova, a research assistant professor in the Department of Genetics, highlighted the significance of EVs: “Beneficial cargo within these transporters – proteins, for instance – aid in wound healing and tissue regeneration. But they can also function diabolically to spread toxic cargoes and act as disease mediators.”

Studying the process in Caenorhabditis elegans, a simple nematode worm, researchers aimed to understand how EVs carry polycystins, proteins linked to PKD. Maureen Barr, a distinguished professor of genetics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, noted, “Inna was able to identify the other proteins that travel with polycystic proteins inside EVs, proteins that no one really knew about before. For researchers in the PKD field, this is very exciting.”

The study explored how cargoes are selected and packaged into EVs, with Nikonorova developing a method to track these cargoes using a labeling tool. “Wherever the polycystins travel, you see a green light under the microscope,” she explained, describing the innovative tracking method.

Their work went beyond merely identifying proteins within EVs. “We took each candidate and looked at whether it goes to vesicles with polycystins and interacts with them,” Nikonorova said. This approach could provide deeper insight into cell processes lacking polycystins, informing efforts to address polycystic kidney disease.

The research received support from grants provided by the National Institutes of Health.

"We went beyond identification," Nikonorova remarked, highlighting the comprehensive nature of their study.