Perspectives on systems biology applications in diabetic kidney disease

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a microvascular complication of type 1 and 2 diabetes with a devastating impact on individuals with the disease, their families, and society as a whole. DKD is the single most frequent cause of incident chronic kidney disease cases and accounts for over 40% of the population with end-stage renal disease. Contributing factors for the high prevalence are the increase in obesity and subsequent diabetes combined with an improved long-term survival with diabetes. Environment and genetic variations contribute to DKD susceptibility and progressive loss of kidney function. How the molecular mechanisms of genetic and environmental exposures interact during DKD initiation and progression is the focus of ongoing research efforts. The development of standardized, unbiased high-throughput profiling technologies of human DKD samples opens new avenues in capturing the multiple layers of DKD pathobiology. These techniques routinely interrogate analytes on a genome-wide scale generating comprehensive DKD-associated fingerprints. Linking the molecular fingerprints to deep clinical phenotypes may ultimately elucidate the intricate molecular interplay in a disease stage and subtype-specific manner. This insight will form the basis for accurate prognosis and facilitate targeted therapeutic interventions. In this review, we present ongoing efforts from large-scale data integration translating "-omics" research efforts into improved and individualized health care in DKD.