Welcome to the Saigusa Lab
Our Lab Focus: Dietary protein load, immune response and kidney cyst progression
A high protein diet is a well-known environmental factor that can stimulate kidney cyst growth in polycystic kidney disease mice. We found that a high protein diet increases blood cells called macrophages (cells that fight against infection) and accelerates kidney cyst growth. Interestingly, when a mouse is fed a plant-based protein diet, it mitigates this immune response and slows the rate of kidney cyst growth compared to mice fed an animal-based protein diet. Our research is focused on determining whether specific amino acids in these dietary proteins may be responsible for kidney cyst growth and to explore the underlying mechanism.
