KULMAP: Human Kidney, urinary tract and lung mapping center

NIH RePORTER · NIH · U54 · $100,000 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary: The kidney nerves and lymphatics use blood vessels as conduits to reach their target sites of action including the vasculature, epithelial cells and interstitium. The lymphatics have important roles in immunomodulation and the kidney sensory and sympathetic nerves closely interact with target sites to regulate glomerular filtration, blood pressure and sense imbalances in metabolic derangements or physical obstruction. A three-dimensional (3D) atlas of regional and cellular distribution and neuroeffector sites in healthy kidneys is essential to understand the different pathological conditions and diseases due to their abnormal activities. However, these structures are not currently being studied in the kidney and pose a specific challenge due to the need for their assessment in meso (cm) and micro (microns) scale. The purpose of this supplement is to generate 3D-volumetric imaging data of sympathetic and sensory renal nerves and their relationship with the blood vessels, lymphatics and functionally important target cell types by leveraging resources of SPARC, HuBMAP and our technological innovations in applying 3D multiplexed immunofluorescence microscopy on large pieces of kidney tissue using Lightsheet microscopy. The neurovascular segmentation, scaffold building and quantitative visualization provided by SPARC will pave the way for broader efforts of similar goals for other HuBMAP organs. The importance of a spatial neurovascular atlas is of prime interest as targeted renal nerve ablation approaches are in clinical trials to treat hypertension and prevent progression of chronic kidney diseases.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10413584
Project number
3U54HL145608-04S2
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Principal Investigator
Sanjay Jain
Activity code
U54
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$100,000
Award type
3
Project period
2018-09-25 → 2022-12-31