Development, Vol 124, Issue 7 1293-1299, Copyright © 1997 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Differential regulation of two sets of mesonephric tubules by WT-1

K Sainio, P Hellstedt, JA Kreidberg, L Saxen and H Sariola
Department of Pathology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland. ksainio@operoni.helsinki.fi

Mammalian renal development undergoes two transient stages, the pronephros and the mesonephros. While the regulation of metanephric differentiation has received considerable attention, very little is known about the mode of differentiation of the mesonephros and its regulation. We have followed mesonephric differentiation to unravel the developmental mechanisms and fates of mesonephric tubules by whole-mount immunohistology using antibodies to laminin, brush border epitopes, cytokeratin-8/18, p75 neurotrophin receptor and some other renal antigens as markers. In rat and mouse embryos, two distinct sets of tubules were observed throughout mesonephric development. Four to six pairs of cranial mesonephric tubules developed as outgrowths from the Wolffian duct. The majority of tubules were caudal tubules which never fused with the Wolffian and differentiated similarly to metanephric nephrons. The murine mesonephric tubules degenerate by apoptosis, except in males where the cranial tubules become the epididymal ducts. These developmental differences between the cranial and caudal sets of tubules suggested different regulatory systems for each. Targeted disruption of the Wilms' tumour gene product, WT-1, results in renal aplasia, and a reduction in the number of mesonephric tubules (Kreidberg, J. A., Sariola, H., Loring, J., Maeda, M., Pelletier, J., Housman, D. and Jaenisch, R. (1993). Cell 74, 679-691). We therefore analysed more closely mesonephric differentiation in WT-1-deficient mice, and showed that they only develop the cranial mesonephric tubules but not the caudal ones. Thus, WT-1 appears to regulate only the development of the caudal mesonephric tubules that conceivably are formed from mesenchymal cells like the metanephric tubules. WT-1 therefore seems to be necessary for the mesenchyme to epithelium transitions at different stages of nephrogenesis.
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Val, J.-P. Martinez-Barbera, and A. Swain Adrenal development is initiated by Cited2 and Wt1 through modulation of Sf-1 dosage Development, June 15, 2007; 134(12): 2349 - 2358. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Wilhelm, S. Palmer, and P. Koopman Sex Determination and Gonadal Development in Mammals Physiol Rev, January 1, 2007; 87(1): 1 - 28. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. G. James, C. N. Kamei, Q. Wang, R. Jiang, and T. M. Schultheiss Odd-skipped related 1 is required for development of the metanephric kidney and regulates formation and differentiation of kidney precursor cells Development, August 1, 2006; 133(15): 2995 - 3004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Yamamoto, L. Cui, K. Johkura, K. Asanuma, Y. Okouchi, N. Ogiwara, and K. Sasaki Branching ducts similar to mesonephric ducts or ureteric buds in teratomas originating from mouse embryonic stem cells Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, January 1, 2006; 290(1): F52 - F60. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Kobayashi, K.-M. Kwan, T. J. Carroll, A. P. McMahon, C. L. Mendelsohn, and R. R. Behringer Distinct and sequential tissue-specific activities of the LIM-class homeobox gene Lim1 for tubular morphogenesis during kidney development Development, June 15, 2005; 132(12): 2809 - 2823. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. T. Discenza and J. Pelletier Insights into the physiological role of WT1 from studies of genetically modified mice Physiol Genomics, February 13, 2004; 16(3): 287 - 300. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. J. Turner, B. S. McIntyre, S. L. Phillips, N. J. Barlow, C. J. Bowman, and P. M. D. Foster Altered Gene Expression during Rat Wolffian Duct Development in Response to in Utero Exposure to the Antiandrogen Linuron Toxicol. Sci., July 1, 2003; 74(1): 114 - 128. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Bouchard, A. Souabni, M. Mandler, A. Neubuser, and M. Busslinger Nephric lineage specification by Pax2 and Pax8 Genes & Dev., November 15, 2002; 16(22): 2958 - 2970. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. C. Serluca and M. C. Fishman Pre-pattern in the pronephric kidney field of zebrafish Development, June 15, 2001; 128(12): 2233 - 2241. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. PUTAALA, K. SAINIO, H. SARIOLA, and K. TRYGGVASON Primary Structure of Mouse and Rat Nephrin cDNA and Structure and Expression of the Mouse Gene J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., June 1, 2000; 11(6): 991 - 1001. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. Swain and R. Lovell-Badge Mammalian sex determination: a molecular drama Genes & Dev., April 1, 1999; 13(7): 755 - 767. [Full Text]

				A. T. Clark and J. F. Bertram Molecular regulation of nephron endowment Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, April 1, 1999; 276(4): F485 - F497. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K Sainio, P Suvanto, J Davies, J Wartiovaara, K Wartiovaara, M Saarma, U Arumae, X Meng, M Lindahl, V Pachnis, et al. Glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor is required for bud initiation from ureteric epithelium Development, January 10, 1997; 124(20): 4077 - 4087. [Abstract] [PDF]