Lindström NO, Carragher NO, Hohenstein P. The PI3K pathway balances self-renewal and differentiation of nephron progenitor cells through β-catenin signaling.
Stem Cell Reports 2015;
4:551-60. [PMID:
25754203 PMCID:
PMC4400645 DOI:
10.1016/j.stemcr.2015.01.021]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2014] [Revised: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Nephron progenitor cells differentiate to form nephrons during embryonic kidney development. In contrast, self-renewal maintains progenitor numbers and premature depletion leads to impaired kidney function. Here we analyze the PI3K pathway as a point of convergence for the multiple pathways that are known to control self-renewal in the kidney. We demonstrate that a reduction in PI3K signaling triggers premature differentiation of the progenitors and activates a differentiation program that precedes the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition through ectopic activation of the β-catenin pathway. Therefore, the combined output of PI3K and other pathways fine-tunes the balance between self-renewal and differentiation in nephron progenitors.
Nephron progenitor cells require PI3K signaling for self-renewal
Reduced PI3K activity enhances β-catenin-induced differentiation
Nephron progenitor cells can differentiate prior to completion of epithelialization
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