Project Grant R01DK140315

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases awarded $1,527,305 to The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York (operating as Stony Brook University) on August 21, 2026, under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) to conduct research on C-terminal binding protein 2 (CTBP2) as a therapeutic target in acute kidney injury.

The research identifies CTBP2, a redox-sensitive, NAD/NADH-dependent transcriptional corepressor, as a driver of tubular injury during acute kidney injury. The project will test the hypothesis that CTBP2 senses redox imbalance and drives tubular injury by repressing genes involved in NAD biosynthesis and mitochondrial metabolism. Two aims structure the work: first, defining the functional impact of genetic and pharmacological CTBP2 inhibition in murine models of ischemic, nephrotoxic, and rhabdomyolysis-associated acute kidney injury, as well as in an ischemic porcine model; and second, identifying upstream regulators and downstream targets of CTBP2 using RNA sequencing, metabolomics, ChIP-sequencing, and promoter-reporter assays. The significance lies in establishing CTBP2 as a novel therapeutic target in acute kidney injury by linking metabolic dysfunction to transcriptional repression.

Performance occurs in Stony Brook, New York. The award period runs from August 21, 2026, through July 31, 2030. The funding flows through The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York, the centralized research administration entity for the SUNY system, to Stony Brook University as the executing research institution.