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DISEASE MODELS

Reversing polycystic kidney disease

A new study shows that re-expressing PKD genes early in the course of the disease can fully reverse polycystic kidney disease in mice. These results reveal an unexpected ability of the kidney to regenerate following genetic rescue of polycystin function.

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Fig. 1: Progression and reversal of PKD.

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Acknowledgements

This News & Views is dedicated to the memory of the beloved parents of A.B., Irene and Virgilio. A.B. is grateful to A. Mondino for feedback. A.B. is supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (RF-2018-12368254; RF-2016-02361267), the Italian association of patients with PKD (AIRP), the PKD Foundation (218G18), the European Community (H-2020-MSCA-ITN-2019#SCiLS) and the Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC, IG2019-23513).

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Correspondence to Alessandra Boletta.

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Boletta, A. Reversing polycystic kidney disease. Nat Genet 53, 1623–1624 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00963-3

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