Project description:Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) provide a possible source for generation of kidney cells and organoids applicable in regenerative medicine, disease modeling and drug screening. By analyzing the effect of different factors on renal differentiation, we established an 8-day-protocol that steered hPSCs to the renal lineage by a step-wise process, segmented into mesoderm induction, intermediate mesoderm specification and metanephric induction outlining renal organogenesis. The differentiated cells contain populations of SIX2+/CITED1+ metanephric mesenchyme- (MM) and of HOXB7+/GRHL2+ ureteric bud (UB)-like cells at the end of 6 days. Transcriptome analysis corroborated that the in vitro generated precursor cell types at day 8 resemble their renal vesicle counterparts in vivo. The cells were further differentiated in 2-dimensional culture into podocyte- and diverse tubular epithelial-like cell types, showing their nephrogenic potential. In 3-dimensional culture, the progenitors gave rise to renal vesicles, and upon mouse embryonic kidney re-aggregation they form tubular structures.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:E11.5 metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud were dissected from the E11.5 kidney rudiment using fine manual microdissection (ureteric bud only) or both fine manual microdissection and laser capture microdissection (metanephric mesenchyme) to define the gene expression profiles of these structures. Additionally, HoxA11, HoxD11 compound null E11.5 metanephric mesenchyme was obtained through laser capture microdissection allowing analysis of possible Hox targets in kidney development. Targets from multiple biological replicates of each were generated and the expression profiles were determined using Affymetrix MOE430_v2 arrays. Using microdissection techniques, ureteric bud and metanephric mesenchyme were dissected from E11.5 kidney rudiments allowing the identificated genes specifically regulated in either structure. In addition, Hoxa11, Hoxd11 compound null E11.5 metanephric mesenchyme were normalized to wild type embryonic controls allowing the identification of potential Hox targets in normal kidney development. Each structure/genotype were represented in biological (seperate embryo) replicate.
Project description:E11.5 metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud were dissected from the E11.5 kidney rudiment using fine manual microdissection (ureteric bud only) or both fine manual microdissection and laser capture microdissection (metanephric mesenchyme) to define the gene expression profiles of these structures. Additionally, HoxA11, HoxD11 compound null E11.5 metanephric mesenchyme was obtained through laser capture microdissection allowing analysis of possible Hox targets in kidney development. Targets from multiple biological replicates of each were generated and the expression profiles were determined using Affymetrix MOE430_v2 arrays. Keywords: embryonic metanephric kidney, kidney development, Hoxa11, Hoxd11, compound null targeted mice