PhD studentship, Universities of Kent and Greenwich

Via www.findaphd.com. A PhD project entitled 'Investigations into how immunosuppressant drugs adversely affect renal medullary blood flow' is available at the Universities of Kent and Greenwich. The successful applicant will investigate whether immunosuppressant drugs decrease renal medullary blood flow (MBF) via vasa recta pericyte cells (pericytes).

It is well established that some immunosuppressant drugs are nephrotoxic, and it has been proposed they decrease MBF by an unknown mechanism. This reduction in MBF can lead to acute renal failure and ischaemic renal injury, as well as the fibrosis which is an important mechanism in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Descending vasa recta (DVR) capillaries supply essential oxygen and nutrients to the renal medulla, and thus the close regulation of DVR capillary diameter is vital for normal kidney function. The laboratory has recently demonstrated that smooth muscle-like pericytes, on DVR capillaries, respond to endogenous vasoactive agents and regulate capillary diameter in situ. This suggests that pericytes are key in the regulation of blood flow through DVR capillaries. Capillaries themselves lack contractile properties and to date only pericytes have been shown to regulate capillary diameter. Their hypothesis is that some immunosuppressant drugs prevent DVR dilation by causing renal pericyte cells to contract and DVR constrict and thus decreased MBF.

Applications are invited from students of the biomedical sciences or a related discipline expecting a 2:1 or higher. Applications should be submitted by the closing date of 30 June 2012. Further information can be found at the link below.

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