Engineering multiscale therapeutics for kidney disease

Abstract

New therapies are urgently needed to address the growing chronic kidney disease epidemic. Nanoscale materials can enable precision drug delivery to kidney cells, improving the efficacy and safety profile of drug cargo. Renal progenitor cells can be engineered with nanotechnology to more efficiently regenerate lost kidney cells. Part I first motivates glomerular podocytes and proximal tubule cells as therapeutic targets in glomerular injury (Chapter 1). Nanoscale polymers that specifically target proximal tubules are identified (Chapter 2), and a new linker for programmed drug release (Chapter 3) and nanoparticles (Chapter 4) are developed for drug delivery to podocytes. Chapter 5 recommends new work to apply these platforms in therapeutic models. Part II begins with an introduction on renal progenitor cell biology (Chapter 7), and optimizes methods for non-viral gene delivery to these cells (Chapter 8). Chapter 9 recommends future work to use nanotechnology to promote renal progenitor cell survival and function.