Screening for mutations in BMP4 and FOXC1 genes in congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract in humans.

Recent studies have demonstrated in mice that bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and forkhead transcription factor 1 (FOXC1) are involved in the organogenesis of the kidney and urinary tract and that derangement of either gene, BMP4 or FOXC1, leads to development of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). In order to determine whether human CAKUT is associated with abnormalities in BMP4 or FOXC1, we established a PCR-based methodology for the DNA sequence analysis of BMP4 and FOXC1 in humans. Our initial screening identified an insertion mutation in FOXC1 with a triplet GGC in three of the seven patients with CAKUT. In the present study, no mutation was detected in the coding sequence of BMP4.