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Review
. 2016:117:31-64.
doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2015.10.010. Epub 2016 Jan 23.

Development of the Mammalian Kidney

Andrew P McMahon  1
Affiliations
Review

Development of the Mammalian Kidney

Andrew P McMahon. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2016.

Abstract

The basic unit of kidney function is the nephron. In the mouse, around 14,000 nephrons form in a 10-day period extending into early neonatal life, while the human fetus forms the adult complement of nephrons in a 32-week period completed prior to birth. This review discusses our current understanding of mammalian nephrogenesis: the contributing cell types and the regulatory processes at play. A conceptual developmental framework has emerged for the mouse kidney. This framework is now guiding studies of human kidney development enabled in part by in vitro systems of pluripotent stem cell-seeded nephrogenesis. A near future goal will be to translate our developmental knowledge-base to the productive engineering of new kidney structures for regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Cell signaling; Development; Disease; Injury; Kidney; Nephron; Patterning; Progenitor cell; Stem cell; Transcription.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic illustrations of the adult mouse metanephric kidney
A). Gross regional organization of the adult kidney. B). Anatomy of the nephron. C). High-resolution overview of the renal corpuscle and associated structures (region boxed in B).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Schematic illustrations of the developing mouse kidney
A) Overviews of the mesonephric and metanephric kidney anlagen pre (E10.5) and post (E11.5) ureteric bud invasion into the metanephric mesenchyme (MM). Anterior is to the top and medial to the right. B). Cellular and molecular organization of collecting duct (Wnt11+), nephron (Six2+), interstitial (Foxd1+) and vascular progenitors within a ureteric tip niche.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Schematic illustrations of nephron patterning process
A). Transition of polarized renal vesicle to patterned S-shape body. B). Speculative color-encoded map of the cell fate relationship of progenitor sub-domains in S-shaped body in (A) to adult nephron anatomy. Verification requires more extensive cell fate mapping studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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