Fibrosis in Pathology of Heart and Kidney: From Deep RNA-Sequencing to Novel Molecular Targets

Felix Schreibing, Teresa M. Anslinger, Rafael Kramann*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Diseases of the heart and the kidney, including heart failure and chronic kidney disease, can dramatically impair life expectancy and the quality of life of patients. The heart and kidney form a functional axis; therefore, functional impairment of 1 organ will inevitably affect the function of the other. Fibrosis represents the common final pathway of diseases of both organs, regardless of the disease entity. Thus, inhibition of fibrosis represents a promising therapeutic approach to treat diseases of both organs and to resolve functional impairment. However, despite the growing knowledge in this field, the exact pathomechanisms that drive fibrosis remain elusive. RNA-sequencing approaches, particularly single-cell RNA-sequencing, have revolutionized the investigation of pathomechanisms at a molecular level and facilitated the discovery of disease-associated cell types and mechanisms. In this review, we give a brief overview over the evolution of RNA-sequencing techniques, summarize most recent insights into the pathogenesis of heart and kidney fibrosis, and discuss how transcriptomic data can be used, to identify new drug targets and to develop novel therapeutic strategies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1013-1033
Number of pages21
JournalCirculation Research
Volume132
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants of the German Research Foundation (DFG: SFBTRR219.), CRU344-4288578857858 and CRU5011-445703531, by 2 grants from the European Research Council (ERC-StG 677448, ERC-CoG 101043403), a grant from the Else Kroener Fresenius Foundation (EKFS), the Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF), TASKFORCE EP1805, the NWO VIDI 09150172010072 and a grant from the Leducq Foundation and by the BMBF eMed Consortia Fibromap all to R. Kramann.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Heart Association, Inc.

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