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Zytoprotec
Zytoprotec GmbH is a start-up company that was founded in 2007, based on a novel concept to exploit cytoprotection and the intellectual property and the patent protection that was achieved by Zytoprotec.
Local collaborations
Prof. Andreas Vychytil, MD / Division of Nephrology and Dialysis
The central internal collaborations of the CDL-MSRPD will be the PD unit of the General Hospital Vienna (head: Prof. Vychytil), surveying one of the largest European PD cohorts. In addition, Prof. Vychytil shares the lab-space assigned to his research activities with our proteomics team, where in turn biomarker projects utilizing the material of his patients on PD are processed. This successful collaboration has so far led to conduction of three randomized controlled trials and the submission of respective manuscripts of which the first are currently published in top journals. The clinical expertise, excellent reputation in the PD research community and openness for integration of novel and ambitious omics technologies of Prof. Vychytil has facilitated the application for a joint CDL of Zytoprotec and the Medical University.
Prof. Christoph Aufricht, MD / Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Gastroenterology
Prof. Aufricht and his team lead one of the largest pediatric dialysis centers in Europe. Over the recent years Prof. Aufricht was involved in founding Zytoprotec as spin-off of the Medical University, the company which will now support the transformation of a translational start-up research team to a public-private partnership, allowing the young researchers of the group to settle and continue their work in PD. The link to the pediatric nephrology is specifically interesting because there is an especially high medical need in the pediatric patient population to be able to perform PD with less chronic damage of the children’s’ peritoneal membrane in the initial phase of their lives.
International collaborations within Europe
European Training and Research in Peritoneal Dialysis (EuTRiPD)
EuTRiPD is currently the world largest network in PD research, the consortium consists of 8 research institutes, 1 SME and 1 large private company throughout 8 of the EU Member States (www.eutripd.eu). EuTRiPD has been funded by the EU through the Marie Curie ITN process and has been granted a 3.2 million Euro budget for the current 4 year period to train 12 early stage researchers across European research centers. The scientific goal of EuTRiPD has been to advance the current state of the art in PD by carrying out bench to bedside research, focused on the identification of biomarkers and interventions that promote survival and function of the peritoneal membrane. Dr. Kratochwill has been a full partner in EuTRiPD. The access to extraordinary expertise within the field on the European level as well as the collaborations resulting in exchange of sample material, methods and personnel, represent a significant benefit for the scientific success of the proposed work. Three close collaborations with EuTRiPD partners are described below in more detail.
Heidelberg / Universitätsklinikum
Omics studies in clinical biopsy material as well as testing of biomarker candidates is conducted in collaboration with the Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg (UKHDL, Germany) as part of an ongoing cooperation with the PD research group of Prof. Claus-Peter Schmitt.
Berlin / Charité & Poznan / University of Poznan
Longterm in-vitro models of PD to test chronic effects of Ala-Gln in PDF on cellular stress response of cultured omental mesothelial cells are conducted in cooperation with Prof. Janusz Witowski’s group. Prof. Witowski, who is a well-known expert for experimental PD, has a joint affiliation with the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany) and University of Poznan (Poland).
Madrid / CSIC
The group of Prof. Manuel López-Cabrera in Madrid (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid/CSIC, Spain) has established a chronic PD model in mice, which offers new possibilities of chronic PD treatment and analysis of new compounds especially in transgenic mice. This model offers the advantage of chronic PD exposure via a permanent catheter combined with the availability of knock-out animals. Using this model Dr. Cabrera has made significant contributions in the field of PD with special regards to EMT and peritoneal fibrosis. The particularly well established communication between our research group and the CSIC has been fostered during a research stay of Rebecca Herzog in addition to the EuTriPD activities.
Other international collaborations
Boston / Harvard Medical School / Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
The lab of Prof. Seth Alper at the Harvard Medical School is currently the only group that has published transcriptomic analyses in the field of PD. The focus of the CDL-MSRPD on biomarkers of peritoneal immune-competence on the transcriptomic level perfectly matches with the previous work of Dr. Alper in this field. In 2014 Dr. Kratochwill has completed a research stay in Prof. Alper’s lab which led to an ongoing collaboration with foreseen joint publications.