The zebrafish pronephros: A model to study nephron segmentation

Wingert, Rebecca A.; Davidson, Alan J.

doi:10.1038/ki.2008.37

Cited by 185 publications

(206 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Despite the different complexities of the three kidney types, their functional unit, the nephron, is organized very similarly. Many transcription factors, structural proteins, and signaling pathways have been shown to pattern the pro-and metanephros in an evolutionarily conserved way (6,7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

MicroRNAs are critical regulators of tuberous sclerosis complex and mTORC1 activity in the size control of the Xenopus kidney

Romaker

Kumar

Cerqueira

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Significance The kidney is an essential organ to remove metabolic waste products and retain essential nutrients. To successfully execute these processes, the kidney and its functional unit, the nephron, must be correctly proportioned. Surprisingly, little is known about the processes governing kidney size. Here, we use the amphibian pronephric kidney as a paradigm to study the molecular mechanisms regulating size control. We show for the first time, to our knowledge, that growth factors belonging to the Insulin growth factor family are critically important in establishing kidney size. Moreover, we demonstrate that the strength of the signal is dependent on the presence of small noncoding RNAs termed microRNAs. These provide robustness to size control and ascertain that the kidney develops properly.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

MicroRNAs are critical regulators of tuberous sclerosis complex and mTORC1 activity in the size control of the Xenopus kidney

Romaker

Kumar

Cerqueira

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The zebrafish kidney provides an excellent paradigm to study nephrogenesis or regeneration of the nephron, the functional unit that comprise the kidney during development and acute kidney injury 43 . Nephron structure is highly conserved between the zebrafish embryonic kidney and the adult mammalian kidney [44][45][46][47][48][49][50] . Several studies examining the zebrafish embryonic kidney clearly illustrate its inherent translational potential when coupled with chemical genetics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Manual Small Molecule Screen Approaching High-throughput Using Zebrafish Embryos

Poureetezadi

Donahue

Wingert

2014

JoVE

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Zebrafish have become a widely used model organism to investigate the mechanisms that underlie developmental biology and to study human disease pathology due to their considerable degree of genetic conservation with humans. Chemical genetics entails testing the effect that small molecules have on a biological process and is becoming a popular translational research method to identify therapeutic compounds. Zebrafish are specifically appealing to use for chemical genetics because of their ability to produce large clutches of transparent embryos, which are externally fertilized. Furthermore, zebrafish embryos can be easily drug treated by the simple addition of a compound to the embryo media. Using whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH), mRNA expression can be clearly visualized within zebrafish embryos. Together, using chemical genetics and WISH, the zebrafish becomes a potent whole organism context in which to determine the cellular and physiological effects of small molecules. Innovative advances have been made in technologies that utilize machine-based screening procedures, however for many labs such options are not accessible or remain cost-prohibitive. The protocol described here explains how to execute a manual high-throughput chemical genetic screen that requires basic resources and can be accomplished by a single individual or small team in an efficient period of time. Thus, this protocol provides a feasible strategy that can be implemented by research groups to perform chemical genetics in zebrafish, which can be useful for gaining fundamental insights into developmental processes, disease mechanisms, and to identify novel compounds and signaling pathways that have medically relevant applications.

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“…Ultrathin sectioning from head to tail was performed with a microtome until the glomerular region was found and sections transferred onto copper slit grids that were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Imaging was done with a transmission electron microscope.The pronephros tubular epithelium is composed of two proximal tubule segments, a proximal straight tubule as well as the early and late distal tubus [3]. The tubular system expresses a brush border of microvilli on the apical side for reabsorption processes (Figure 1d).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The pronephros tubular epithelium is composed of two proximal tubule segments, a proximal straight tubule as well as the early and late distal tubus [3]. The tubular system expresses a brush border of microvilli on the apical side for reabsorption processes (Figure 1d).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Zebrafish Model to Study the Role of microRNAs in Glomerular Function and Disease

Müller-Deile¹,

Schiffer²

2017

Adv Tech Biol Med

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The zebrafish physiology of many organs including the kidney is very similar to that of human beings. Zebrafish develop from a fertilized egg to free-swimming larvae in only 48 h. The zebrafish larvae's correlate for the human kidney is the pronephros consisting of two nephrons with glomeruli fused at the embryo mid-line ventral to the dorsal aorta [1] ( Figure 1a).The glomerular filtration barrier of the pronephros is ultrastructurally almost indistinguishable from a mammalian glomerulus with interdigitating podocyte foot processes, a thin glomerular basement membrane and a fenestrated glomerular endothelium [2]. These structures can be found in 120 h old zebrafish larvae on ultrastructural level (Figures 1b and 1c). To generate these pictures zebrafish larvae were fixed in solution D and embedded in EPON. Ultrathin sectioning from head to tail was performed with a microtome until the glomerular region was found and sections transferred onto copper slit grids that were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Imaging was done with a transmission electron microscope.The pronephros tubular epithelium is composed of two proximal tubule segments, a proximal straight tubule as well as the early and late distal tubus [3]. The tubular system expresses a brush border of microvilli on the apical side for reabsorption processes (Figure 1d). The glomerular filtration of the zebrafish pronephros begins around 48 h post fertilization (hpf) [4]. Taking into consideration the structural and functional similarities and the fact that zebrafish gene expression can easily be influenced by specific knockdown and overexpression techniques using microinjections of morpholinos (MOs), mRNAs, microRNAs (miRs), small RNAs or CRISPR/Cas9 technology, the zebrafish serves as an ideal model to study glomerular diseases [5]. We and others successfully used the zebrafish model to screen for novel genes involved in kidney diseases [6][7][8]. On the other hand, gene mutations identified from human genetic studies can be verified as causative factors of proteinuric kidney disease in the zebrafish model. An upcoming field of research interest is the role of miRs in disease processes. MiRs regulate gene expression posttranscriptional by binding to the 3'-untranslated region (3' UTR) of a target mRNA and inhibiting translation [9,10]. Different miRs have been found to be enriched in human kidneys include miR-192, miR-194, miR-204, miR-215 and miR-216 [11]. MiRs are also essential for podocyte homeostasis [12][13][14][15] and can be secreted in body fluids [16,17].To antagonize the function of miRs, several antagomirs have been engineered and are commercially available. On the contrary, miR effects can be enhanced with miR mimics, which are chemically modified short double-stranded RNA sequences.Delivery of miRs in the zebrafish larvae system can be accomplished by microinjection of miR mimics in one-to-four cell stage or at 48 hpf by cardinal vein (c.v.) injection. After injections in egg stage the miR mimic is equally distributed in all zebra...

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The zebrafish pronephros: A model to study nephron segmentation

Cited by 185 publications

References 62 publications

MicroRNAs are critical regulators of tuberous sclerosis complex and mTORC1 activity in the size control of the Xenopus kidney

MicroRNAs are critical regulators of tuberous sclerosis complex and mTORC1 activity in the size control of the Xenopus kidney

A Manual Small Molecule Screen Approaching High-throughput Using Zebrafish Embryos

The Zebrafish Model to Study the Role of microRNAs in Glomerular Function and Disease

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