Hensey Carmel, Dolan Vincent, Brady Hugh R
Department of Pharmacology, The Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin and Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2002;17 Suppl 9:73-4. doi: 10.1093/ndt/17.suppl_9.73.
By analysing the expression and function of DN-associated genes during renal development in vivo, it may be possible to shed light on their pathogenic roles in the disease. The embryos of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis provide a useful model for analysing early embryonic development, particularly organogenesis. Their rapid, external development and the large size of embryos allow for ease of observation and manipulation of the developmental programme. The Xenopus pronephros represents a single nephron, the basic unit of the successive vertebrate renal organs, i.e. the mesonephros and metanephros, and thus provides a useful model of nephrogenesis. Suppression subtractive hybridization was used to identify genes induced when primary cultures of mesangial cells are exposed to high extracellular glucose. Among these genes was the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) gremlin. Interestingly gremlin is expressed in Xenopus pronephros at stage 27 where it has the potential to interact with BMPs and related regulators of nephrogenesis. Further analysis of the role of gremlin in renal development may shed light on their roles in disease.
通过分析糖尿病肾病相关基因在体内肾脏发育过程中的表达和功能，有可能阐明它们在该疾病中的致病作用。非洲爪蟾（非洲爪蟾）的胚胎为分析早期胚胎发育，特别是器官发生提供了一个有用的模型。它们快速的体外发育和较大的胚胎尺寸便于观察和操纵发育程序。非洲爪蟾的前肾代表单个肾单位，即连续的脊椎动物肾脏器官（中肾和后肾）的基本单位，因此提供了一个有用的肾发生模型。抑制性消减杂交被用于鉴定当系膜细胞原代培养物暴露于高细胞外葡萄糖时诱导的基因。这些基因中包括骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）gremlin。有趣的是，gremlin在非洲爪蟾前肾发育的第27阶段表达，在该阶段它有可能与BMPs及相关的肾发生调节因子相互作用。对gremlin在肾脏发育中的作用进行进一步分析可能会阐明它们在疾病中的作用。
