Janos Peti-Peterdi Associate Professor Physiology & Biophysics, Medicine Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute Keck School of Medicine

Education:
MD 1994 - Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
PhD 1998 - Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship:
1997 - 2001 University of Alabama, Birmingham

Started at USC: 2004

Research Topics: Physiology, Membranes & Transport

Research Description

The Peti-Peterdi lab is studying the function of juxtaglomerular apparatus (JGA), a major structural component of the renin-angiotensin system in the kidney, and one of the most important regulatory sites of renal salt & water conservation and blood pressure maintenance. The process of glomerular filtrate formation and regulation of renal hemodynamics, including the tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) mechanism and renin release, involves the complex interaction of a number of different cell types of the JGA. Most of our current research is focusing on signaling from the tubular component of JGA, a specialized epithelial cell plaque called macula densa (MD). MD cells act as sensor cells detecting changes in luminal salt concentrations through specific ion transport processes and sending signals to underlying vascular smooth muscle cells and renin producing granular cells of the afferent arteriole. These signaling processes most likely involve the release of various mediator substances from the MD (ATP, adenosine, PGE2) and their interaction with specific receptors in the JGA ultimately resulting in vasoconstriction and renin exocytosis. Very recently, we established a new experimental model that utilizes multiphoton fluorescence imaging to visualize the living JGA in striking detail. This state-of-the-art technology is used in our studies to functionally and morphologically analyze ion transporters, intra-, and intercellular signaling mechanisms in various cell types in the JGA that constitute the TGF and renin release mechanisms. We study the effect of various physiological and pathological states and conditions (hypertension, diabetes) on TGF and renin release, two important mechanisms of the body to control extracellular fluid volume and blood pressure.

Legend to figure...A single glomerulus—one of the millions of corpuscles that filter blood in the kidney—is captured in living color, thanks to one of the newest and most high-tech instruments now gracing the labs of the Keck School of Medicine’s Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute.