BACKGROUND Low nephron number is determined in utero and is a proposed risk for essential hypertension. Glomerular volume is inversely correlated with nephron number, and genetic and environmental factors that determine nephron number are thought to determine glomerular volume. This study compared total glomerular (nephron) number (N(glom)), mean glomerular volume (V(glom)) and kidney weight in...

The expression of P-450 4A isoforms responsible for the formation of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) was examined using the reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction in various nephron segments and preglomerular arterioles microdissected from the kidneys of Sprague-Dawley rats. Expression of cytochrome P-450 4A1, 4A2, 4A3, and 4A8 mRNA could be detected in RNA extracted from...

Claudins, a family of tight junction-related transmembrane proteins, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various human neoplasms. Expression of claudin-7 was increased in chromophobe renal cell carcinoma in a recent oligonucleotide microarray study. We studied the expression of claudin-7 in benign and neoplastic kidneys by immunohistochemical staining. Distal nephron (distal convoluted ...

An association between low nephron number and subsequent development of hypertension in later life has been demonstrated. The underlying pathomechanisms are unknown, but glomerular and postglomerular changes have been discussed. We investigated whether such changes are already present in prehypertensive "glial cell line-derived neurotrophic growth factor" heterozygous mice (GDNF+/-) with lower ...

Differentiation of metanephric mesenchyme is triggered by an inductive signal(s) from the epithelial ureteric bud. As a result of this induction, most of the metanephric mesenchyme converts into epithelium of a nephron. We have developed and characterized an explant culture system, in which metanephric mesenchyme can grow and completely differentiate in vitro in the absence of an inductive tiss...

HIERHOLZER, KLAUS, ROBERT CADE, RUTH GURD, RICHARD KESSLER AND ROBERT PITTS. &‘top-flow analysis of renal reabsorption and excretion of sulfate in the dog. Am. J. Physiol. 198(4) : 8yy-837. 1g6o.-Utilizing the stop-flow technique, the site of reabsorption of inorganic sulfate has been localized in the proximal part of the nephron of the dog. Sulfate is most avidly reabsorbed in that portion of ...

Identification of tissue-specific renal stem/progenitor cells with nephrogenic potential is a critical step in developing cell-based therapies for renal disease. In the human kidney, stem/progenitor cells are induced into the nephrogenic pathway to form nephrons until the 34 week of gestation, and no equivalent cell types can be traced in the adult kidney. Human nephron progenitor cells (hNPCs)...

The kidney is a highly specialized organ with a complex, stereotyped architecture and a great diversity of functions and cell types. Because the microscopic organization of the nephron, the functional unit of the kidney, has a consistent relationship to the macroscopic anatomy of the kidney, knowledge of the characteristic patterns of gene expression in different compartments of the kidney coul...

Proximal tubular pressure shows periodic self-sustained oscillations in normotensive rats but highly irregular fluctuations in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Although we have suggested that the irregular fluctuations in SHR represent low-dimensional deterministic chaos in tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF), they could also arise from other mechanisms, such as intrinsic instabilities in pre...

The major function of epithelial tissues is to maintain proper ion, solute, and water homeostasis. The tubule of the renal nephron has an amazingly simple structure, lined by epithelial cells, yet the segments (i.e., proximal tubule vs. collecting duct) of the nephron have unique transport functions. The functional differences are because epithelial cells are polarized and thus possess differen...