Bmp7 drives proximal tubule expansion and determines nephron number in the developing kidney.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian kidney is composed of thousands of nephrons that are formed through reiterative induction of a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transformation by a population of nephron progenitor cells. The number of nephrons in human kidneys ranges from several hundred thousand to nearly a million, and low nephron number has been implicated as a risk factor for kidney disease as an adult. Bmp7 is among a small number of growth factors required to support the proliferation and self-renewal of nephron progenitor cells, in a process that will largely determine the final nephron number. Once induced, each nephron begins as a simple tubule that undergoes extensive proliferation and segmental differentiation. Bmp7 is expressed both by nephron progenitor cells and the ureteric bud derivative branches th

SUBMITTER: Taglienti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9382899 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature