Essential Function of Wnt-4 for Tubulogenesis in the Xenopus Pronephric Kidney

Developmental Biology

Hedyeh Ghanbari¹  Didier M.E. Saulnier¹  André W. Brändli¹ 

[1] Department of Applied Biosciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

关键词: Wnt-4;    pronephric kidney;    tubulogenesis;    morpholinos;    Xenopus;   

DOI  :  10.1006/dbio.2002.0712

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Academic Press

【 摘 要 】

Inthevertebrateembryo,developmentoftheexcretorysystemischaracterizedbythesuccessiveformationofthreedistinctkidneys:thepronephros,mesonephros,andmetanephros.WhiletubulogenesisinthemetanephrickidneyiscriticallydependentonthesignalingmoleculeWnt-4,itisunknownwhetherWntsignalingisequallyrequiredfortheformationofrenalepitheliaintheotherembryonickidneyforms.WethereforeinvestigatedtheexpressionofWntgenesduringthepronephrickidneydevelopmentinXenopus.Wnt4wasfoundtobeassociatedwithdevelopingpronephrictubules,butwasabsentfromthepronephricduct.OnsetofpronephricWnt-4expressioncoincidedwithmesenchyme-to-epitheliumtransformation.ToinvestigateWnt-4genefunction,weperformedgain-andloss-of-functionexperiments.MisexpressionofWnt4intheintermediateandlateralmesodermcausedabnormalmorphogenesisofthepronephrictubules,butwasnotsufficienttoinitiateectopictubuleformation.Weusedamorpholinoantisenseoligonucleotide-basedgeneknockdownstrategytodisruptWnt-4genefunction.XenopusembryosinjectedwithantisenseWnt-4morpholinosdevelopednormally,butmarkergeneandmorphologicalanalysisrevealedacompleteabsenceofpronephrictubules.Pronephricductdevelopmentwaslargelyunaffected,indicatingthatductogenesismayoccurnormallyintheabsenceofpronephrictubules.Ourresultsshowthat,asinthemetanephrickidney,Wnt-4iscriticallyrequiredfortubulogenesisinthepronephrickidney,indicatingthatacommon,evolutionaryconservedgeneregulatorynetworkmaycontroltubulogenesisindifferentvertebrateexcretoryorgans.

【 授权许可】

Unknown