Open AccessInsights into kidney stem cell development and regeneration using zebrafish
Author(s) -
B. J. Drummond,
Rebecca A. Wingert
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
world journal of stem cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.907
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1948-0210
DOI - 10.4252/wjsc.v8.i2.22
Subject(s) - zebrafish , regeneration (biology) , stem cell , regenerative medicine , identification (biology) , stem cell biology , kidney , kidney disease , biology , computational biology , renal stem cell , function (biology) , neuroscience , bioinformatics , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , genetics , ecology , embryo , progenitor cell , reproductive technology , embryogenesis
Kidney disease is an escalating global health problem, for which the formulation of therapeutic approaches using stem cells has received increasing research attention. The complexity of kidney anatomy and function, which includes the diversity of renal cell types, poses formidable challenges in the identification of methods to generate replacement structures. Recent work using the zebrafish has revealed their high capacity to regenerate the integral working units of the kidney, known as nephrons, following acute injury. Here, we discuss these findings and explore the ways that zebrafish can be further utilized to gain a deeper molecular appreciation of renal stem cell biology, which may uncover important clues for regenerative medicine.