Protein Kinase 2 Is Expressed in Neural Crest-Derived Urinary Pacemaker Cells and Required for Pyeloureteric Contraction.

Nonobstructive hydronephrosis, defined as dilatation of the renal pelvis with or without dilatation of the ureter, is the most common antenatal abnormality detected by fetal ultrasound. Yet, the etiology of nonobstructive hydronephrosis is poorly defined. We previously demonstrated that defective development of urinary tract pacemaker cells (utPMCs) expressing hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 3 (HCN3) and the stem cell marker cKIT causes abnormal ureteric peristalsis and nonobstructive hydronephrosis.

Integrin-linked Kinase Controls Renal Branching Morphogenesis via Dual Specificity Phosphatase 8.

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is an intracellular scaffold protein with critical cell-specific functions in the embryonic and mature mammalian kidney. Previously, we demonstrated a requirement for Ilk during ureteric branching and cell cycle regulation in collecting duct cells in vivo Although in vitro data indicate that ILK controls p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) activity, the contribution of ILK-p38MAPK signaling to branching morphogenesis in vivo is not defined. Here, we identified genes that are regulated by Ilk in ureteric cells using a whole-genome expression analysis of whole-kidney mRNA in mice with Ilk deficiency in the ureteric cell lineage.

Urinary tract pacemaker cells: current knowledge and insights from nonrenal pacemaker cells provide a basis for future discovery.

Coordinated ureteric peristalsis propels urine from the kidney to the bladder. Cells in the renal pelvis and ureter spontaneously generate and propagate electrical activity to control this process. Recently, c-kit tyrosine kinase and hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 3 (HCN3) were identified in the upper urinary tract.