Premium
A new role for the stromal cells in kidney development
Author(s) -
Bard Jonathan
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950180905
Subject(s) - stromal cell , kidney development , kidney , medulla , biology , transcription factor , mesenchymal stem cell , morphogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , cortex (anatomy) , knockout mouse , pathology , gene , cancer research , anatomy , endocrinology , medicine , neuroscience , genetics , embryonic stem cell
New observations by Hatini et al. (1) on the ‘winged helix’ transcription factor BF‐2 will make us change our views about kiney development. This gene is only expressed in stromal cells associated with the kidney medulla and cortex, but the BF‐2 knockout has unexpected abnormalities. Although the stromal cells appear normal, the kidney is small, the ducts have limited branching and, instead of the many normal nephrogenic aggregates, there are relatively few large mesenchymal aggregates that fail to differentiate. The stromal cells thus seem to produce factors regulating other aspects of kidney development, while the abnormalities highlight a series of unsolved problems in kidney morphogenesis.