Development of zebrafish models for renal regeneration and glomerular diseases

Research Group Leader

  • PD Dr. med. Heiko Schenk 

 

Scientific Staff

  • Dr. med. Uta Hillebrand
  • Dr. med. Nikolai Rex

 

Technical Assistance

  • Michaela Beese

 

MD/PhD Students

  • Cand. med. Moritz Zeller
  • Cand. med. Tom Böwer

 

Scientific profile

Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of kidney regeneration in zebrafish. We are particularly interested in characterizing the stem cells that are necessary for this process. In collaboration with the Drummond Lab (Iain Drummond, PhD, MDIBL), we are working to develop new models of kidney regeneration that can be used to improve our understanding of human kidney disease. By using zebrafish as a model organism, we can study the regeneration of the nephrons in a controlled and systematic way. This allows us to identify the key factors that are involved in kidney regeneration and to develop new therapies for acute kidney injury.

Our clinical focus is on understanding acute kidney injury in intensive care medicine. We are actively involved in various clinical and translational studies to understand the impact of inflammatory processes in the context of sepsis and CAR-T cell-associated cytokine release syndrome on the kidney. Our goal is to develop and implement new therapeutic strategies to improve acute kidney injury.

 

Selected publications

 

  1. Stahl K, Schenk H, Kühn C, Wiesner O, Hoeper MM, David S. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in non-intubated immunocompromised patients. Crit Care. 2021 Apr 30;25(1):164. doi: 10.1186/s13054-021-03584-8. PMID: 33931122 

  2. Djenoune L, Tomar R, Dorison A, Ghobrial I, Schenk H, Hegermann J, Beverly-Staggs L, Hidalgo-Gonzalez A, Little MH, Drummond IA. Autonomous Calcium Signaling in Human and Zebrafish Podocytes Controls Kidney Filtration Barrier Morphogenesis. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Apr 28;32(7):1697–712. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020101525. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33911000 

  3. Etzrodt V, Idowu TO, Schenk H, Seeliger B, Prasse A, Thamm K, Pape T, Müller-Deile J, van Meurs M, Thum T, Garg A, Geffers R, Stahl K, Parikh SM, Haller H, David S. Role of endothelial microRNA 155 on capillary leakage in systemic inflammation. Crit Care. 2021 Feb 22;25(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s13054-021-03500-0. PMID: 33618730 

  4. Schenk H, Müller-Deile J, Schroder P, Bolaños-Palmieri P, Beverly-Staggs L, White R, Bräsen JH, Haller H, Schiffer M. Characterizing renal involvement in Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome in a zebrafish model. Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 27;9(1):17718. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54058-5. PMID: 31776394 

  5. Stahl K, Schenk H, Seeliger B, Wiesner O, Schmidt JJ, Bauersachs J, Welte T, Kühn C, Haverich A, Hoeper MM, David S. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome due to Pneumocystis pneumonia. Eur Respir J. 2019 Sep 19;54(3):1900410. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00410-2019. PMID: 31151957. 

  6. Schenk H, Masseli A, Schroder P, Bolaños-Palmieri P, Beese M, Hegermann J, Bräsen JH, Haller H. Sulfatases, in Particular Sulf1, Are Important for the Integrity of the Glomerular Filtration Barrier in Zebrafish. Biomed Res Int. 2019 Jul 22;2019:4508048. doi: 10.1155/2019/4508048. PMID: 31428635 

  7. Müller-Deile J, Schenk H, Schroder P, Schulze K, Bolaños-Palmieri P, Siegerist F, Endlich N, Haller H, Schiffer M. Circulating factors cause proteinuria in parabiotic zebrafish. Kidney Int. 2019 Aug;96(2):342-349. doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2019.02.013. Epub 2019 Mar 8. PMID: 31076096. 

  8. Müller-Deile J, Schenk H, Niggemann P, Bolaños-Palmieri P, Teng B, Higgs A, Staggs L, Haller H, Schroder P, Schiffer M. Mutation of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (mitf) in zebrafish sensitizes for glomerulopathy. Biol Open. 2019 Mar 4;8(3):bio040253. doi: 10.1242/bio.040253. PMID: 30718228 

  9. Schenk H, Müller-Deile J, Schmitt R, Bräsen JH, Haller H, Schiffer M. Removal of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) factor suPAR using CytoSorb. J Clin Apher. 2017 Dec;32(6):444-452. doi: 10.1002/jca.21538. Epub 2017 Mar 29. PMID: 28370393. 

  10. Schenk H, Müller-Deile J, Kinast M, Schiffer M. Disease modeling in genetic kidney diseases: zebrafish. Cell Tissue Res. 2017 Jul;369(1):127-141. doi: 10.1007/s00441-017-2593-0. Epub 2017 Mar 22. PMID: 28331970. 

 

Current third-party funding

  

KIAA1199 und der Hyaluronsäure-Signalweg: ein vielversprechender therapeutischer Ansatz für glomeruläre Erkrankungen  

Sponsor: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 

PI Schenk SCHE 2173/3-1, 2022-2025  

 

Charakterisierung protektiver Effekte der Plasmapherese von septischen Patienten durch Repletion von Heparanase 2 im Zebrafisch-Modell 

Sponsor: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft  

DFG Clinician Scientist Programm unter Leitung von Frau Professorin Melk (ME 3696/3-1), 2020-2021  

 

Open positions and PhD projects

Wir freuen uns über Anfragen von interessierten Medizin- und PhD Studierenden und bieten hierfür spannende grundlagenwissenschaftliche Fragestellungen an!  

 

Contact

E-Mail schenk.heiko(at)mh-hannover.de