Department of Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2021 Apr;12(2):179-183. doi: 10.1017/S204017442000001X. Epub 2020 Jan 27.
The mammalian kidney is a complex organ, requiring the concerted function of up to millions of nephrons. The number of nephrons is constant after nephrogenesis during development, and nephron loss over a life span can lead to susceptibility to acute or chronic kidney disease. New technologies are under development to count individual nephrons in the kidney in vivo. This review outlines these technologies and highlights their relevance to studies of human renal development and disease.
哺乳动物的肾脏是一个复杂的器官,需要多达数百万个肾单位的协同功能。在发育过程中肾发生后,肾单位的数量是恒定的,而在寿命过程中的肾单位损失可导致易感性急性或慢性肾脏病。新技术正在开发中,以在体内计数肾脏中的单个肾单位。本综述概述了这些技术,并强调了它们与人类肾脏发育和疾病研究的相关性。