Kidney Regeneration and Stem Cell Laboratory

Associate Professor Sharon Ricardo

Group Leader

Director, MBio Graduate School

Telephone: +61 - 3 9905 0671 (Office) Facsimile: +61 - 3 9905 0695 Email: Sharon.Ricardo@med.monash.edu.au

Contact
Monash Immunology and Stem Cell
Laboratories (MISCL)
STRIP1, Level 3
Monash University
Clayton 3800
Laboratory phone: 03 9905 0695

The Kidney Regeneration Adult Stem Cell Laboratory is focused on the development of new therapies that may offer alternatives for patients undergoing kidney transplantation and long-term dialysis.

Lab members

Associate Professor Sharon Ricardo - Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader
Dr Bi Song - Research Fellow

PhD Students

Maliha Alikhan
Adrian D'Arcy
Christina Jones
Timothy Williams
Andrea Wise

Honours Student

Ricky Lau

Research Assistants

Emerald Surrao
Junli Zhuang

Research Overview

Kidney disease is a widespread and debilitating health issue facing millions of people worldwide. The progression to end-stage renal disease is now a critical health issue where the incidence is rising rapidly at a rate of around 6-8% per year. Our research focuses on the development of stem cell-based therapies and/or growth factors that may repair damaged kidney tissues and reverse the development of scarring, thereby reducing the need for kidney dialysis or organ transplantation.

Specific Projects include:

Generation of stem cells from patients with kidney disease
We have published the first international report of the generation of stem cells, termed iPS cells, from human kidney cells (J Am Soc Nephrol 2011). The establishment of iPS cell lines from patients with kidney disease has an extraordinary potential for new drug discovery and personalized medicine. This is where the study of iPS cells lines could provide information about an individual patient to select or optimize that patient's preventative and therapeutic care and enable us to understand kidney disorders in a way we've never been able to before.

Reducing scarring and injury in chronic kidney disease
This research is focused on the development of strategies to promote of kidney ‘self-repair' and the blood-derived immune cells that are important in this process. In particular, macrophages enter kidneys in response to inflammation where they can have a beneficial effect leading to kidney repair and improved function. Studies are in progress to define the populations of macrophages that support kidney cell replacement and the re-establishment of normal kidney architecture in an acute inflammatory setting, but also the setting of scarring common to many chronic kidney diseases.

A novel therapy for babies with kidney defects
There is growing evidence that genes important in kidney development are also vital in regeneration of the kidney and may "switch on" during kidney repair following injury. We are developing a protein called colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) for clinical trials that can promote kidney growth and maturation. This exciting new finding allows for the development of innovative applications of CSF-1 therapy for the treatment of unborn babies with kidney defects for which there is currently no cure.

Our Research in the News

Australians achieve kidney world first - Cosmos magazine

Why kidneys have a stake in kidney disease - The Converstation

Australians create stem cells from kidneys - Radio ABC National

Victorian scientists make stem cell breakthrough - The Age May 17, 2011

Publications 2007 to present

Wise AF, Ricardo SD. Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Kidney Inflammation and Repair. Nephrology (Carlton) [Epub ahead of print] Jul 20, 2011.

Alikhan M, Jones CV, Fletcher A, Williams TM, Sakkal S, Campanale NV, Kett M, Samuel C, Deane J, Little MH, Hume DA, and Ricardo SD. CSF-1 promotes kidney development and postnatal repair via alteration of a macrophage response. American Journal Pathology, 2011; 179(3): 1243-56.

Verghese E, Zhuang J, Saiti D, Ricardo SD, Deane JA. In vitro investigation of renal epithelial injury suggests that primary cilium length is regulated by hypoxia-inducible mechanisms. Cell Biology International 2011; 35(9) 909-13

Song B, Alikhan M, Kerr PG, Laslett AL, and Ricardo SD. Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human mesangial cells. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2011; 22(7): 1213-20.

Lin A, Kolle G, Grimmond S, Zhou G, Doust E, Little MH, Aronow B, Ricardo S, Pera MF, Bertram JF, Laslett A. Subfractionation of differentiating hES cell populations allows the isolation of a mesodermal population enriched for intermediate mesoderm and putative renal progenitors. Stem Cells and Development, 2010; 19(10): 1637-1648.

Williams TM, Little MH, Ricardo SD. Invited review: Macrophages in Renal Development, Injury and Repair. Seminars in Nephrology 2010; 30:255-267.

Li J, Qu X, Yao J, Ricardo SD, Bertram JF, Nikolic-Paterson DJ. Resveratrol inhibits renal fibrosis in the obstructed kidney: potential role in deacetylation of Smad3. American Journal Pathology 2010; 177(3), 1065-1071.

Li J, Qu X, Yao J, Ricardo SD, Caruana G, Yamamoto Y,Yamamoto H, Bertram JF. Blockade of endothelial-mesenchymal-transition by a Smad3 inhibitor delays the early development of streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy. Diabetes, 2010; 59(10): 2612-24.

Zhuang J, Deane JA, Yang RB, Li J, Ricardo SD. Scube-1, a novel developmental gene involved in renal regeneration and repair. Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation 2010; 25: 1421 - 1428.

Verghese E, Ricardo SD, Weindenfeld R, Liang R, Hill P, Langham R, Deane JA. Renal Primary Cilia Lengthen after Acute Tubular Necrosis. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2009; 20(10): 2147-2153. Featured on cover. Featured article in Nature Review Nephrology Research Highlights.

Ricardo S.D., H van Goor. Eddy A.A. Invited Review: Macrophage diversity in renal injury and repair. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2008:118(11); 3522-3530.

Wang L, Weidenfeld R, Verghese L, Ricardo S.D. and Deane JA. Alterations in renal cilium length during transient complete ureteral obstruction in the mouse. Journal of Anatomy 2008:213(2):79-85. Featured on cover.

Verghese E, Weidenfeld R, Bertram JF, Ricardo S.D., Deane JA. Renal cilia display length alterations following tubular injury and are present early in epithelial repair. Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation 2008:23(3):834-41.

Deane JA and Ricardo S.D. Review: Polycystic Kidney Disease and the Renal Cilium. Nephrology 2007:12:559-64. Featured on cover.

Rae F, Woods K, Sasmono T, Campanale N, Taylor D, Ovchinnikov D, Grimmond SM, Hume DA, Ricardo S.D, and Little MH. Characterisation and trophic functions of murine embryonic macrophages based upon the use of a CSF-IR-EGFP transgenic reporter. Developmental Biology 2007:308(1):232-246.

Li J, Deane JA, Campanale NV, Bertram JF, and Ricardo S.D. Modulation of the contribution of bone marrow-derived cells to renal repair and the development of interstitial fibrosis. Stem Cells 2007: 25(3):697-706.

Renal Lab Members

L to R, Back Row: Ricky Lau, Adrian D’Arcy, Andrea Wise, Christina Jones, Tim Williams and Bi Song (Research Fellow).
Front Row: Emerald Surrao, Sharon Ricardo (Group Leader), Maliha Alikhan and Junli Zhuang.

Postgraduate Opportunities

There are a range of projects currently available within the Renal Regeneration laboratory for Honours and postgraduate study. See our Student Opportunities page for more information.

A/Prof Ricardo acknowledges research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Alport Foundation of Australia and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (Australian Chapter).