Vladimir Todorov, Lab Head and PI
Research interests
Vladimir Todorov has been studying the renin cells in the kidney. He is interested in their non-canonical functions i.e. in functions which are not related to the renin production with regard to the regulation of Renin-Angiotensin-System (RAS) activity. His findings contribute to a new concept where the renin cells are featured a progenitor cell niche in the kidney which is important for the physiological maintenance of its functional and structural integrity by secreting renoprotective paracrine factors and upon injury is capable of transdifferentiating, thus replacing the damaged cells to regenerate the kidney. His current projects focus on the identification of renin cell derived bioactive substances with regenerative and reparative potential as well as on the developmental mechanisms of renin cell differentiation as a model to understand their persisting phenotype plasticity.