| Institution: | 1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud Humana (IICSHUM), Universidad Nacional de La Rioja, La Rioja, Argentina;2. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológica (IQUIFIB)-CONICET, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cátedra de Biología Celular y Molecular, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina;3. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológica (IQUIFIB)-CONICET, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Abstract: | We have previously demonstrated that kidney embryonic structures are present in rats, and are still developing until postnatal Day 20. Consequently, at postnatal Day 10, the rat renal papilla contains newly formed collecting duct (CD) cells and others in a more mature stage. Performing primary cultures, combined with immunocytochemical and time-lapse analysis, we investigate the cellular mechanisms that mediate the postnatal CD formation. CD cells acquired a greater degree of differentiation, as we observed that they gradually lose the ability to bind BSL-I lectin, and acquire the capacity to bind Dolichos biflorus. Because CD cells retain the same behavior in culture than in vivo, and by using DBA and BSL-I as markers of cellular lineage besides specific markers of epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype, the experimental results strongly suggest the existence of mesenchymal cell insertion into the epithelial CD sheet. We propose such a mechanism as an alternative strategy for CD growing and development. |
