Apl. Prof. Ferruh Artunc

The research group of Prof. Ferruh Artunc, MD, focuses on the importance of the excretion of active proteases in the urine in nephrotic syndrome, which has been termed proteasuria. Current data suggest that proteasuria plays an important pathophysiological role in the development of typical complications of nephrotic syndrome such as sodium retention, hyperlipidaemia, hypercoagulability and progressive renal injury. The identification of the proteases involved could lay the foundation for new therapeutic approaches to treat patients with nephrotic syndrome by targeted inhibition of protease activity in the urine. In the nephrotic mouse model, this achieved a complete prevention of sodium retention without quantitatively reducing proteinuria (Bohnert et al. Kidney International 2018).