Thomas R. Kleyman, MD

  • Sheldon Adler Professor of Medicine and Chief, Renal-Electrolyte Division
  • Professor of Cell Biology and of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology

Administrative Assistant: Carmela Londino

Thomas R. Kleyman, MD, is the Sheldon Adler Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Renal-Electrolyte Division at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a Professor of Cell Biology, and of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, and is the Director of the Pittsburgh Center for Kidney Research. Dr. Kleyman completed a term as the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology: Renal Physiology, and is currently the editor-in-chief of Physiological Reports. He has served on numerous editorial boards and study sections. Dr. Kleyman is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. His work is currently supported by grants from the NIH, and he is the principal investigator of NIH T32 and T35 training grants and a George M. O’Brien Kidney Research Core Center. Dr. Kleyman’s current research interests are epithelial ion channels, with an emphasis on epithelial Na+ and K+ channels.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • American Heart Association
  • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • American Society for Clinical Investigation (elected)
  • American Society of Nephrology
  • American Physiological Society
  • Association of American Physicians (elected)
  • Association of Subspecialty Professors
  • Biophysical Society
  • National Kidney Foundation
  • Salt and Water Club  (Secretary, 1993-1995)
  • Society of General Physiologists

Education & Training

  • BS, Biochemistry, Syracuse University, 1973
  • MD, Washington University, 1978
  • MA (honoris causa), University of Pennsylvania, 1997
  • Presbyterian Hospital Medical Residency, 1978-1981
  • Presbyterian Hospital Fellow in Nephrology, 1981-1983

Selected Publications

Ray, E.C., R.G. Miller, J.E. Demko, T. Costacou, C.L. Kinlough, C.L. Demko, M.L. Unruh, T.J. Orchard, T.R. Kleyman. Urinary plasmin(ogen) as a prognostic factor for increased blood pressure, hypertension, and mortality. Kidney Int. Rep., 6:1434-1442, 2018. Accompanying commentary: Kohan, D.E. Urinary plasmin(ogen): New predictor of hypertension. Kidney Int. Rep., 6:1242-1244, 2018.

Rondon-Berrios, H., S. Tandukar, M.K. Mor, E.C. Ray, F.H. Bender, T.R. Kleyman, S.D. Weisbord. Urea for the Treatment of Hyponatremia. Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 13:1627-1632, 2018.

Sheng, S., J. Chen, A. Mukherjee, M.E. Yates, T.M. Buck, J.L. Brodsky, M.A. Tolino, R.P. Hughey, and T.R. Kleyman. Multifunctional thumb domain of the epithelial Na+ channel. J. Biol. Chem. 293:17582-17592, 2018.

Jackson, E.K., Z. Mi, T.R. Kleyman, and D. Cheng. 8-Aminoguanine induces diuresis, natriuresis, and glucosuria by inhibiting purine nucleoside phosphorylase and reduces potassium excretion by inhibiting Rac1. J. Am. Heart Assoc. 7: e010085, 2018.

Dalghi, M.G., D.R. Clayton, W.G. Ruiz, M. Al-bataineh, L.M. Satlin, T.R. Kleyman, W. Ricke, M. Carattino, and G. Apodaca. Expression and Distribution of PIEZO1 in the Mouse Urinary Tract. Am J Physiol. 317:F303-F321, 2019.

Wang, X, J. Chen, S. Shi, S. Sheng and T.R. Kleyman. Analyses of epithelial Na+ channel variants reveal that an extracellular β-ball domain critically regulates ENaC gating. J. Biol. Chem. 294:16765-16775, 2019.

Shi, S., N. Montalbetti, X. Wang, B.M. Rush, A.L. Marciszyn, C. Baty, R.J. Tan, M.D. Carattino and T.R. Kleyman. Paraoxonase 3 functions as a chaperone to decrease functional expression of the epithelial sodium channel. J. Biol. Chem. 295:4950-4962, 2020.

Carrisoza-Gaytan, R., E.C. Ray, D. Flores, A.L. Marciszyn, P. Wu, L. Liu, A.R. Subramanya, W.H. Wang, S. Sheng, L.J. Nkashama, J. Chen, E.K. Jackson, S.M. Mutchler, S. Heja, D.E. Kohan, L.M. Satlin, T.R. Kleyman. Intercalated cell BKα subunit is required for flow-induced K+ secretion. JCI Insight. 5:e130553, 2020.

Ray, E.C., R. Carrisoza-Gaytan, M. Al-Bataineh, A.L. Marciszyn, L.J. Nkashama, J. Chen, A. Winfrey, D. Flores, P. Wu, W.H. Wang, C.L. Huang, A.R. Subramanya, T.R. Kleyman*, L.M. Satlin. L-WNK1 is required for BK channel activation in intercalated cells. In revision. *communicating author.

Ray, E.C., A. Jordahl, A. Marciszyn, A. Winfrey, T. Lam, Y. Barak, S. Sheng, and T.R. Kleyman. Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis in a Mouse Model with Reduced ENaC Gamma Subunit Expression. In revision.

Research Grants

P30 DK079307, Pittsburgh Center for Kidney Research, PI, 2018-2023, NIH $1,875,000.

R01 HL147818 (formerly DK051391), ENaC regulation and its role in blood pressure homeostasis, PI, 2019-2023, NIH $1,960,000.

R01 DK038470, Regulation of K and H secretion by intercalated cells, mPI, 2020-2023, NIH $450,000.

R01 DK117126, Role of GRP170 in ENaC Biogenesis and Renal Physiology, co-I, 2019-2024, NIH $200,000.

T32 DK061296, Renal and Epithelial Biology Training Program, PI, 2018-2023, NIH $1,976,000.

T35 DK065521, Training in Renal, GI, Endocrine and Epithelial Biology, mPI, 2020-2025, NIH $246,000.