Menu

News & Events

Kidney and Urinary System News

From left, Andy McMahon and Gage Crump (Photos by Phil Channing and the Crump Lab)

What I’m reading: Top picks from stem cell faculty members Andy McMahon and Gage Crump

Andy McMahon: Leigh Turner and Paul Knoepfler present a disturbing report in Cell Stem Cell on the growth of businesses marketing stem cell interventions in the US. Los Angeles is one “stem …

Stem cells self-organize to form a hollow ball of cells. (Image by In Kyoung Mah and Francesca Mariani)

A gene called Prkci helps organize organisms and their organs

A gene called Prkci can point cells in the right direction, according to a new study in Developmental Biology. In the study, USC Stem Cell researcher In Kyoung Mah from the laboratory …

Malcolm Snead (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC)

Amplifying cell signals for potentially lower cost stem cell interventions

Editor’s Note: USC Stem Cell principal investigators Malcolm Snead and Yan Zhou were among the authors of “Supramolecular Nanofibers Enhance Growth Factor Signaling by Increasing Lipid Raft Mobility,” published on April 12, …

3-D printed Cas9 enzyme that snips a DNA sequence at a location identified by CRISPR. (Photo courtesy of the NIH 3D Print Exchange, National Institutes of Health)

USC Stem Cell scientists enter the conversation about CRISPR

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene-editing technique that enables scientists to disable, replace or modify sections of DNA. It allows for unprecedented precision and speed in the field of genome editing. It has been used to …

From left, Edward Crandall, chair of the Department of Medicine, presents a UKRO award to Andy McMahon, chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. (Photo courtesy of HSC Communications office)

Four honored at UKRO benefit gala

University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) honored USC academic and scientific leaders at its sixth gala dinner March 18 at The Beverly Hilton, with 300 attendees. This group of vocal champions of kidney …

Embryonic day 15.5 mouse kidney next to a 15.5 week human fetal kidney with SIX2 (cyan) marking the nephron progenitors and cytokeratin (red) highlighting the collecting duct system. Nuclei are in blue. (Image by Lori O'Brien)

USC researchers discover a key difference between mouse and human kidney stem cells

The best laid plans of mice and men are a bit different — at least when it comes to kidney development. Compared to a mouse, a human has nearly 100 times more nephrons, …

From left, Hsiang-Ying (Sherry) Lee, Sergei Doulatov, Leonardo Morsut, Alexander Pollen and Joan Font-Burgada (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell mini-symposium introduces next-generation researchers

The next generation of scientists is turning to stem cells to advance our understanding of systems ranging from the blood to the brain, from the liver to the lungs. Six of these …

Qi-Long Ying (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Scientists Qi-Long Ying and Austin Smith win the 2016 McEwen Award for Innovation

Video by Henry Liu Researchers Qi-Long Ying from USC and Austin Smith from the University of Cambridge have won the 2016 McEwen Award for Innovation, the highest honor bestowed by the International …

Andy McMahon (Photo by Phil Channing)

UKRO benefit dinner to honor USC leaders

University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) will honor a stellar group of USC academic and scientific leaders at its sixth gala dinner on March 18 at The Beverly Hilton. This group of vocal …

The gene Prkci promotes the generation of differentiated cells (red). However if Prkci activity is reduced or absent, neural stem cells (green) are promoted. (Image by In Kyoung Mah)

A Prkci gene keeps stem cells in check

When it comes to stem cells, too much of a good thing isn’t wonderful: producing too many new stem cells may lead to cancer; producing too few inhibits the repair and maintenance …

Albert Kim (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Postdoctoral fellow Albert Kim receives first Hearst Fellowship

How do you turn stem cells into nephrons, the functional unit of the kidney? Albert D. Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Andy McMahon, is exploring this question with support …

From right, Qi-Long Ying, director of the Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility; Daniel Chang; Andy McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC; and Cai Li Chang (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Chang Stem Cell Engineering Facility brings gene editing to USC and beyond

Once the stuff of science fiction, genetic engineering is now offered on a fee-for-service basis at USC. On September 19, USC Stem Cell faculty and staff welcomed their supporters, the Chang and …

Activation of Sox9 (green) in nuclei (blue) of proximal tubular epithelial cells (yellow) following acute nephron injury. Surviving SOX9+ cells proliferate (red) to repair the damaged nephron restoring renal function. (Image courtesy of Sanjeev Kumar, Jing Liu, Paul Pang, A. Michaela Krautzberger, Antoine Reginensi, Haruhiko Akiyama, Andreas Schedl, Benjamin D. Humphreys and Andrew P. McMahon)

Gene summons “surviving cells on deck” to repair the acutely injured kidney

In the kidney, injured cells can be kicked into reparative mode by a gene called Sox9, according to a new paper published in Cell Reports. First author Sanjeev Kumar, a postdoctoral research …

UKRO board and USC researchers in attendance included, from left, Edward Crandall, newly hired Director Kenneth Hallows, Nuria M. Pastor-Soler, Alicia McDonough, Laura Perin, Vito Campese and Janos Peti-Peterdi.

USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center opening is held

Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers recently joined board members from the University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) to celebrate the opening of the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center in the Mudd Memorial …

Clockwise from top left: Andre Luis de Castro Abreu, Victoria Forte, Kathy Schall and Rodrigo Martínez Monedero (Photos by Cristy Lytal)

USC Stem Cell selects inaugural Broad Clinical Research Fellows

This year, the Broad Clinical Research Fellowships are enabling physician-investigators to explore stem cell-based approaches related to four very different medical conditions: breast cancer, kidney disease, deafness and short bowel syndrome. Each …

Janos Peti-Peterdi with his mother and son in 2004 (Photo by Reka Peti-Peterdi)

USC kidney researcher Janos Peti-Peterdi wins Young Investigator Award

USC kidney researcher Janos Peti-Peterdi has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the ASN-AHA Young Investigator Award. Co-sponsored by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the Council on the Kidney …

Fresh veggies, anyone? (Photo by Bob Nichols)

Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

Want to lose abdominal fat, get smarter and live longer? New research led by USC Stem Cell principal investigator Valter Longo shows that periodically adopting a diet that mimics the effects of …

Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC (Photo by Chris Shinn)

Take a tour of USC’s stem cell research center

Video by Alric Devotta Director Andy McMahon leads a tour of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.

USC scientist Janos Peti-Peterdi receives congratulations from Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

Peti-Peterdi is inducted into prestigious honor societies

Pioneering Keck Medicine of USC scientist Janos Peti-Peterdi, MD, PhD, received congratulations in early March in Salzburg, Austria, from Austrian President Heinz Fischer upon his induction into the European Academy of Sciences …

Clockwise from upper left: Hao Yuan Kueh, Florian Merkle, Robert A.J. Signer, members of the audience, Pedro Batista and Joseph T. Rodgers (Photos by Cristy Lytal)

USC mini-symposium showcases the next generation of top stem cell scientists

Obesity, narcolepsy, leukemia and muscle injuries have at least one thing in common: they are engaging the next generation of top stem cell scientists. Five of these scientists presented their research at …