Spatial Transcriptomics in Kidney Transplantation

Launched by WESTERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT · Feb 24, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

SPACE-KiT is a long-term, observational study that will follow people who have received a kidney transplant (or a kidney-pancreas transplant) to learn more about why the transplanted kidney may fail or fight off rejection. Researchers will use a cutting-edge approach called spatial transcriptomics to map where different cells are inside kidney tissue and combine this with blood, urine, stool, and biopsy samples. The goal is to better understand immune activity in the transplant and to improve how doctors diagnose and manage rejection and other problems.

Who can join and what to expect: Adults aged 18 to 75 who have had a kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant and can give informed consent, agree to long-term follow-up, and allow their samples to be stored for future research. People who cannot consent, have a life expectancy under 6 months, or recently had a stem cell transplant are not eligible. As part of routine care, some participants may have a kidney biopsy, and researchers will collect baseline and follow-up samples over time. The study plans to enroll about 500 participants at Westmead Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, led by Jennifer Li. This is not a drug trial; it is an observational study aiming to link biopsy and molecular findings with outcomes like graft survival and kidney function over several years.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • All participants included in the study must be age ≥ 18 years old at time of enrolment and
• • 1. able to provide informed consent (interpreter permitted) for enrolment
• • 2. consenting to longitudinal follow up (can withdraw post enrolment)
• • 3. consenting to provide samples for biobanking, including blood, urine, faecal and/or kidney biopsy tissue (collected prospectively, separate to routine care)
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients will be excluded from the study if they are
• • 1. unable (or unwilling) to provide consent, or
• • 2. have life-expectancy less than 6-months, or
• • 3. have received a haematopoietic stem cell transplant in the past 5 years.