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DNA methylation links intrauterine stress with abnormal nephrogenesis

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Scientists have long wondered how maternal diabetes, malnutrition and placental dysfunction impair fetal nephrogenesis. A new study discovered a link between prenatal metabolic stress and nephron deficit via dysregulation of DNA methylation — an epigenetic mechanism that is essential for the renewal and differentiation of nephron progenitors.

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Fig. 1: The link between gestational stress, epigenetic mechanisms and congenital nephron deficit.

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Acknowledgements

The author is funded by grant RO1 DK 114050 from the US National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Samir S. El-Dahr

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  1. Samir S. El-Dahr
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Correspondence to Samir S. El-Dahr.

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El-Dahr, S.S. DNA methylation links intrauterine stress with abnormal nephrogenesis. Nat Rev Nephrol 15, 196–197 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0114-y

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