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Xenopus: leaping forward in kidney organogenesis

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Abstract

While kidney donations stagnate, the number of people in need of kidney transplants continues to grow. Although transplanting culture-grown organs is years away, pursuing the engineering of the kidney de novo is a valid means of closing the gap between the supply and demand of kidneys for transplantation. The structural organization of a mouse kidney is similar to that of humans. Therefore, mice have traditionally served as the primary model system for the study of kidney development. The mouse is an ideal model organism for understanding the complexity of the human kidney. Nonetheless, the elaborate structure of the mammalian kidney makes the discovery of new therapies based on de novo engineered kidneys more challenging. In contrast to mammals, amphibians have a kidney that is anatomically less complex and develops faster. Given that analogous genetic networks regulate the development of mammalian and amphibian nephric organs, using embryonic kidneys of Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog) to analyze inductive cell signaling events and morphogenesis has many advantages. Pioneering work that led to the ability to generate kidney organoids from embryonic cells was carried out in Xenopus. In this review, we discuss how Xenopus can be utilized to compliment the work performed in mammalian systems to understand kidney development.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Lance Davidson, Mark Corkins and Soeren Lienkamp for critical reading of the manuscript and thoughtful suggestions. This work was funded by a National Institutes of Health NIDDK grant (K01DK092320) and startup funding from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Research Center, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, MSE R413, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Vanja Krneta-Stankic, Bridget D. DeLay & Rachel K. Miller

  2. Program in Genes and Development, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA

    Vanja Krneta-Stankic & Rachel K. Miller

  3. Program in Cell and Regulatory Biology, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA

    Rachel K. Miller

  4. Department of Genetics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Rachel K. Miller

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  1. Vanja Krneta-Stankic
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Correspondence to Rachel K. Miller.

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Krneta-Stankic, V., DeLay, B.D. & Miller, R.K. Xenopus: leaping forward in kidney organogenesis. Pediatr Nephrol 32, 547–555 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-016-3372-y

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