Branching morphogenesis in the developing kidney is not impacted by nephron formation or integration
Kieran M Short,
Alexander N Combes,
Valerie Lisnyak,
James G Lefevre,
Lynelle K Jones,
Melissa H Little,
Nicholas A Hamilton,
Ian M Smyth
Affiliations
Kieran M Short
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Alexander N Combes
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Valerie Lisnyak
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
James G Lefevre
Division of Genomics of Development and Disease, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Lynelle K Jones
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Melissa H Little
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Nicholas A Hamilton
Division of Genomics of Development and Disease, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Branching morphogenesis of the ureteric bud is integral to kidney development; establishing the collecting ducts of the adult organ and driving organ expansion via peripheral interactions with nephron progenitor cells. A recent study suggested that termination of tip branching within the developing kidney involved stochastic exhaustion in response to nephron formation, with such a termination event representing a unifying developmental process evident in many organs. To examine this possibility, we have profiled the impact of nephron formation and maturation on elaboration of the ureteric bud during mouse kidney development. We find a distinct absence of random branch termination events within the kidney or evidence that nephrogenesis impacts the branching program or cell proliferation in either tip or progenitor cell niches. Instead, organogenesis proceeds in a manner indifferent to the development of these structures. Hence, stochastic cessation of branching is not a unifying developmental feature in all branching organs.
