Successfully combatting a complex disease requires multi-disciplinary and methodically well-trained scientists. CaReSyAn strived to accomplish exactly this: in a close cooperation between academia, SMEs and industry partners, we trained young scientists to successfully integrate proteomics, clinical, experimental and bioinformatical analyses to enhance the understanding, diagnosis and therapy of the cardiorenal syndrome. The cardiorenal syndrome comprises disorders of the heart, vessels and kidneys, including the increased development of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease. With ~45% of all deaths in patients with chronic kidney disease caused by cardiovascular disease, the socio-economic burden of the cardiorenal syndrome is extremely high. Key objectives were to provide: 1) Excellent scientific training on the pathology of pathological kidney-heart crosstalk, integrating clinical/mechanistic knowledge with technological skills to generate innovative insights triggering the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of the cardiorenal syndrome; 2) Excellent complementary skills in personal and career development as well as business training required to extend beyond scientific research; and 3) Exposure to both academic and non-academic environments, required to build bridges between researchers and companies and support the future translation of research findings in innovative products and services. To this end, a successful multi-disciplinary training program was established, embedded in an already established cooperation of academic and non-academic partners. This enabled our early-stage researchers to successfully perform their scientific research and reach the scientific goals of CaReSyAn: 1) We identified biomarkers of pathological kidney-heart crosstalk by proteomics/peptidomics analyses as candidates for diagnosis, prediction and treatment of the cardiorenal syndrome; 2) We generated high-dimensional network models of the cardiorenal syndrome using bioinformatics, to assess the value of biomarker candidates in diagnostic and predictive signatures; and 3) We studied the pathology of the cardiorenal syndrome as well as the role of biomarker/target candidates and novel therapeutic strategies, to reveal novel diagnostic and therapeutic options by combining preclinical and clinical analyses.
As one highlight, novel calcification-regulatory peptides were identified by our partners as candidates for novel therapeutic strategies targeting increased cardiovascular calcification in patients with chronic kidney disease, resulting in a European patent application. Furthermore, building on the successful collaborations in CaReSyAn, a new joint institute between the RWTH Aachen and the Maastricht University was created, named the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for CardioRenal Disease (AMICARE), to ensure continuation of European training and research efforts as in CaReSyAn also beyond the borders of this consortium.
