Principles of Zebrafish Nephron Segment Development

• Published in: Journal of developmental biology Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 14
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Thanh Khoa, Petrikas, Madeline, Chambers, Brooke E., Wingert, Rebecca A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 18.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Biomedical research; Congenital defects; Danio rerio; development; Developmental biology; distal tubule; Electrolytes; Epithelial cells; epithelium; Genetic disorders; Genomes; Kidneys; medicine; Mutagenesis; Mutation; nephron; Nephrons; Physiology; Regenerative medicine; Review; segment; Tfap2a; Urinary tract; zebrafish; nephron; Tfap2a; development; Tfap2b; segment; Kctd15; distal tubule; zebrafish
• ISSN: 2221-3759; 2221-3759
• DOI: 10.3390/jdb11010014

Nephrons are the functional units which comprise the kidney. Each nephron contains a number of physiologically unique populations of specialized epithelial cells that are organized into discrete domains known as segments. The principles of nephron segment development have been the subject of many studies in recent years. Understanding the mechanisms of nephrogenesis has enormous potential to expand our knowledge about the basis of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), and to contribute to ongoing regenerative medicine efforts aimed at identifying renal repair mechanisms and generating replacement kidney tissue. The study of the zebrafish embryonic kidney, or pronephros, provides many opportunities to identify the genes and signaling pathways that control nephron segment development. Here, we describe recent advances of nephron segment patterning and differentiation in the zebrafish, with a focus on distal segment formation.