For patients with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a common genetic disorder that destroys the organ that rejects the waste with cysts, dialysis and transplantation is one of the unique treatments.
More than 12.4 million people worldwide suffer from the dominant form of the situation. Now, Rutgers University geneticists have revealed new details of how the disease evolves – findings that could open the door to new treatments.
In a study published in Nature communicationsInna Nikonorova, an assistant researcher in the Department of Genetics in the framework of the School of Arts and Rutgers, reports a new way
Inna was able to detect other proteins that travel with polycystic proteins in EVS, proteins that no one really knew before. For researchers in the PKD sector, this is very exciting. ”
Maureen Barr, distinguished professor of genetics at Rutgers-New Brunswick University and co-author of the study
Once a waste of cells is considered a waste product, researchers are now understanding the effects on extracellular health.
“The beneficial load within these carriers – proteins, for example – help in wound healing and tissue regeneration,” Nikonorova said. “But they can also work devilishly to spread toxic loads and act as mediators of the disease.”
What was unclear is how loads are selected and packaged in extracellular vesicles.
To explore this mystery, Nikonorova and Barr reset to an EV that carries PKD gene proteins and related material. Changes in PKD proteins called polycyins are associated with the progression of the disease.
Using findings from a previous study, Nikonorova developed a labeling tool to monitor the cargo of specialized EVs in a laboratory worm called G. EleganS, which has translucent body and rapid growth cycle. With the development of a green fluorescent protein associated with polycystine-2, Nikonorova was able to watch the EV cargo journey through the body of the worm and to map its interactions.
“Where Polycystens travel, you see a green light under the microscope,” he said. “It’s like giving some lens and seeing them going to the room through a dark house.”
The monitoring method used by Nikonorova, known as the “proximity label”, helped her determine the exact mechanism by which polycystics are packaged in EVs and related proteins traveling with polycyrostens throughout the body.
“I went through identification,” Nikonorova said.
Previous studies have only named proteins within the UN. On the contrary, “we took each candidate and examined if he was going to polycystic vesicles and interacts with them,” he said.
This information could help researchers understand what is happening in cells with missing polycystine proteins, a basic knowledge of finding ways to treat polycystic kidney disease or slow down its progression, Nikonorova said.
This research was supported by grants by the National Institutes of Health.
Source:
Magazine report:
Nikonorova, IA, et al. (2025). Polycysters recruit a load on separate subtypes of extracellular cystic in C. elegans. Nature communications. Doi.org/10.1038/S41467-025-57512-3.
