Myosin-activating medicines for polycystic kidney disease
Official title: Targeting Myosin to Treat Polycystic Kidney Disease
Funded at Plurexa LLC · NIH-11261679 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Drugs that boost a cell motor protein called myosin aim to slow cyst growth in adults with polycystic kidney disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Plurexa LLC NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | April 12, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $839,264 |
| NIH project number | 2R42DK136452-02A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261679 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with polycystic kidney disease, including those with PC1 or PC2 mutations, would be the intended candidates for future trials.
✕Less likely to help
People without PKD or whose disease is unrelated to myosin-driven mechanisms are unlikely to benefit from these myosin-targeting compounds.
What this research studies
This project is developing small molecules that activate non-muscle myosin II to reduce cyst formation in polycystic kidney disease from the patient perspective. The team uses human kidney organoids that mimic PKD cysts and tests candidate compounds in those mini-kidneys as well as in mouse models. Their pipeline combines computer-based drug design, lab biochemical assays, and in vivo studies to select promising NMII activators. The goal is to find safe compounds that could advance toward human clinical testing.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to a new medicine that slows or shrinks kidney cysts with fewer side effects than the only currently approved drug.
How similar studies have gone: Preclinical studies and related cardiac myosin activator research support the approach and early lab and mouse results show reduced cyst growth, but human testing is still limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Plurexa LLC
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Freedman, Benjamin Solomon — Plurexa LLC
- Study coordinator: Freedman, Benjamin Solomon
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Personalized CKD-MBD care using systems biology and AI
A patient-facing program aims to tailor mineral-balance therapy for people with chronic kidney disease by using a computer model and smart decision rules to predict who will respond best to treatments.
-
Mitigating DKA in people with type 1 diabetes and kidney disease using SGLT1/2 inhibitors
This project tests a new way to prevent dangerous diabetic ketoacidosis in people with type 1 diabetes and chronic kidney disease who are using SGLT inhibitors, by tracking ketones in real time and combining glucose-keton data for safer therapy.
-
Chronic Kidney Disease in Children: following young people as they grow up with CKD
A long-term study in kids with chronic kidney disease tracks kidney function and heart health as they transition into adulthood.
-
Chronic Kidney Disease in Children follow-up study
A long-term study that follows kids with kidney disease as they grow into young adults, collecting health data from home and official records.
-
KDARC: Building a research backbone to study aging and kidney disease
Aimed at creating a dedicated infrastructure to advance aging-related kidney disease research so clinicians can better care for older adults.
-
Malaria-related kidney injury and its link to chronic kidney disease in children
This grant looks at why some children who have malaria develop kidney injury and later chronic kidney disease, focusing on how severe malaria affects the kidneys over time.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.