# Transcriptional regulation of urothelial differentiation and cell type specification during homeostasis and regeneration

> **NIH NIH U54** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $234,569

## Abstract

PROJECT 2: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The mission of the Columbia University George M. O’Brien Urology Cooperative Research Center is to
advance the understanding of benign genitourinary diseases/disorders. The Center consists of an
Administrative (Admin) Core, a Microbial Genomics Biomedical Research Core, and three Research Projects
that include preclinical and clinical studies. Our focus includes: (1) the intersection of the host genome and the
urinary microbiome; (2) the transcriptional regulation of urothelial differentiation during homeostasis and repair
in response to UTI; and (3) how the regulation of urinary chemistry and urothelial iron metabolism (“iron-heme
machine”) is a component of the urothelial response to UTI. We anticipate that the proposed studies will
provide new insight into the pathogenesis of disorders of high relevance to benign urology and also facilitate
introduction of genetic testing into the practice of Urology and even suggest new treatments. We will examine
the interactions between host and invading bacteria, and the role of nutrient iron in shaping the outcome of UT
infections; we will undertake a new GWAS analysis to search for mutations that lead to LUTD, including
incontinence, obstruction and pelvic floor prolapse, we will analyze the urinary microbiome of patients with
lower urinary tract disfunction (LUTD), and we propose to identify pathways that program urothelial cell types
that may be used to treat benign urothelial abnormalities associated with disease. The most important goal of
this center is to utilize the expertise and experience of the urological community to increase the scope of our
studies and to help direct the kinds of questions we will address. We have directly integrated members of the
P20/U54 community as well as clinicians and scientists in the benign urological community. Co-investigators
on our projects include Indira Mysorekar (P20), an expert in UTI and urothelial biology who will work with Dr.
Mendelsohn and Dr. Barasch, Chad Vezina (Wisconsin U54) and collaborating scientists and clinicians from
the benign urological community, (Lori Birder, Gerry Apodaca, Doug Strand). In addition, we have invited
outside experts to join our work, for example, the heme biologist, Iqbal Hamza (University of Maryland). We
are also highly focused on education and outreach: Our summer program has trained 73 students since our
center has been established, including undergraduates, fourth year medical students and urology residents. we
have provided opportunity pool funds to Dr. Putonti (Loyola University) and Dr. Catherine Brownstein, (Harvard
University). We held a Symposium in October of 2019 that was extremely successful "The problem of UTI: The
microbiome of the Urogenital Tract and its immune Defense" bringing together a dozen experts with >138
members of the Urological community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10487498
- **Project number:** 5U54DK104309-09
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** CATHY Lee MENDELSOHN
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $234,569
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-09-24 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10487498

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10487498, Transcriptional regulation of urothelial differentiation and cell type specification during homeostasis and regeneration (5U54DK104309-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10487498. Licensed CC0.

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