The Rhythm of Kidney Development (VIDEO)

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science

Caption

In videos created by the Hughes Lab to visualize the process, adjacent nephrons form one after the other, as if they were following a beat. “It’s still a hypothesis,” adds Hughes, “but we think that the stem cells that are around these tubules are effectively listening for these mechanical stress waves to guide their decision making about when to form a nephron or when not to.” If researchers can simulate that rhythm, they might be able to guide the development of artificial kidneys, which would represent a tremendous leap forward in treating CKD.

Credit

Alex Hughes

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License

CC BY-SA

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