New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Researchers have created a comprehensive map of genes involved in the functioning of a kidney, revealing over a thousand genes that could serve as potential targets for treating kidney disease, according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal Science, also helped researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, US, devise a "genetic scorecard" for doctors to see which specific genes and variants could be most likely tied to a patient's kidney disease.

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"Studying close to 1,000 human kidney samples and hundreds of thousands of kidney cells one by one was key to offering a clearer picture of what is going on 'behind the scenes'," co-senior author Katalin Susztak, a professor of renal-electrolyte and hypertension at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

Chronic kidney disease, in which a damaged kidney is unable to purify blood, can be caused due to varied reasons, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

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The disorder can eventually lead to a patient requiring dialysis or a transplant, when the kidneys cannot cope with the body's demand for pure blood, removing waste and regulating electrolytes, the researchers explained.

"We provide a genetic blueprint for kidney function, enabling genetics-based prognostication and drug discovery," the authors wrote. The study analysed genetic data from over two million people.

The team also found that proximal tubule cells -- involved in re-absorbing water and electrolytes and other functions -- are a "hotbed" of disease-causing variants. Variants in these cells could hamper essential processes, potentially causing kidney disease.

"It's critical to pinpoint which cells are truly relevant for disease," first author Hongbo Liu, a former postdoctoral fellow in the division of renal-electrolyte and hypertension, the University of Pennsylvania, said.

"By creating single-cell profiles of thousands of kidney cells, we were able to 'zoom in' and find how certain genetic variants disrupt the regulatory machinery in key kidney cell types," Liu said.

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