Rong Ma, PhD

Population of diabetes mellitus continues to rise in the U.S. Diabetic kidney disease is a major complication of diabetes mellitus and is the most common cause of chronic kidney disease.
The research in our laboratory is directed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of the development of diabetic kidney disease. Specifically, we are interested in the role of different calcium signaling pathways in the diabetes-induced kidney injury. Toward this goal, we use both animal models of diabetes mellitus and cultured kidney cells to study how altering calcium signaling changes the function and structure of the kidney/kidney cells under a diabetic environment. We utilize quantitative immunological methods, immunohistochemistry, and RT-PCR to reliably measure both protein and message for various molecules in specific calcium signaling pathways in kidney tissues/kidney cells. We also employ multiple tools to evaluate kidney function under different conditions. It is our goal to better understand the molecular events involved in the kidney response to diabetes, so that we can target rational development of effective therapeutics to prevent/treat the disease.