PKD1 upstream open reading frames affect Polycystin-1 expression and polycystic kidney disease phenotypes

Zhigui Li; Zi Guo; Soyoung Cho; Rishi Bhardwaj; Ke Dong; Sorin Fedeles; Whitney Besse

doi:10.1172/JCI203177

PKD1 upstream open reading frames affect Polycystin-1 expression and polycystic kidney disease phenotypes

Zhigui Li,¹ Zi Guo,¹ Soyoung Cho,¹ Rishi Bhardwaj,¹ Ke Dong,² Sorin Fedeles,¹ and Whitney Besse¹

Published July 28, 2026 - More info

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Abstract

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) accounts for 5-10% of prevalent end-stage kidney failure (ESKD). ADPKD cysts result from a loss of sufficient functional expression of PKD1/Polycystin-1 (PC1) in approximately 80% of families. Kidney disease severity correlates with the extent to which PC1 dosage is reduced below a critical level, and evidence suggests therapeutic benefit from increasing PC1 expression in these conditions. Upstream open reading frame (uORF) translation can reduce translation of a protein’s coding sequence. Ribosome profiling data and bioinformatic predictions suggested the presence of conserved PKD1 uORFs, so we sought to explore their biological role. We generated luciferase reporters and two humanized PKD1 5’UTR mouse models with or without single nucleotide edits removing uORF start codons (“delta-uORF”) to define active uORFs and test their impact on PC1 translation. PKD1 uORF start codons can robustly initiate translation and delta-uORF conveys a 2-4-fold increase in PC1 protein expression and resultant prevention of kidney cysts in Dnajb11 as well as in Pkd1 missense models. PKD1 uORF1-blocking steric antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) substantially increase PC1 expression in vitro. PKD1 uORFs play an important role in the low basal expression of wild-type PKD1, and their inhibition represents an opportunity to therapeutically increase PC1 translation in polycystic kidney and liver disease resulting from reduced dosage of PC1.

PKD1 upstream open reading frames affect Polycystin-1 expression and polycystic kidney disease phenotypes

Zhigui Li,¹ Zi Guo,¹ Soyoung Cho,¹ Rishi Bhardwaj,¹ Ke Dong,² Sorin Fedeles,¹ and Whitney Besse¹

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PKD1 upstream open reading frames affect Polycystin-1 expression and polycystic kidney disease phenotypes

Zhigui Li,1 Zi Guo,1 Soyoung Cho,1 Rishi Bhardwaj,1 Ke Dong,2 Sorin Fedeles,1 and Whitney Besse1

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Zhigui Li,¹ Zi Guo,¹ Soyoung Cho,¹ Rishi Bhardwaj,¹ Ke Dong,² Sorin Fedeles,¹ and Whitney Besse¹