Ashkar Lab
Principal Investigator: Tarek Maurice Ashkar
Institution: Indiana University Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major determinant of mortality and morbidity in hospitalized patients. Unfortunately, AKI remains without specific therapy. Uromodulin (UMOD, also known as Tamm-Horsfall protein, gene name UMOD) is a kidney-specific protein uniquely expressed in the cells of thick ascending limbs (TAL). Uromodulin is secreted in the urine and circulation and is implicated in modulating kidney injury, but the functions of intracellular uromodulin remain poorly understood. We discovered a splice variant of UMOD (AS- UMOD) that is directed intracellularly within TAL cells. Our preliminary data suggest that AS-UMOD is induced by injury and is targeted towards the inner mitochondrial membrane to protect TAL cells by enhancing mitochondrial function. The goal of this application is to establish the importance of AS-UMOD induction as a protective mechanism within TAL cells against AKI. We aim to elucidate innovative concepts related to UMOD biology that have broad implications, enhance AS-UMOD expression using splice switching oligonucleotides (SSOs) as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for AKI and expand the understanding of AKI pathophysiology and the key role of AS-U…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R01DK146350-01A1: Alternative splicing of UMOD as a protective mechanism for thick ascending cells in kidney injury. (2026)
- 5U54DK137328-04: Molecular Imaging Biomedical Resource Core (2026)
- 5U54DK137328-03: Molecular Imaging Biomedical Resource Core (2025)
- 5U54DK137328-02: Molecular Imaging Biomedical Resource Core (2024)
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