This picture shows two nephrons growing in the laboratory.

Stunning images provide new insights into how the organ develops

The University of Edinburgh has released striking images showing how the kidney develops from a group of cells into a complex organ.

The pictures are helping scientists to understand the early stages of mammal development.

Time-lapse imaging was used by researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute to capture mouse kidneys growing in the laboratory on camera.

A key molecule called beta-catenin was identified, which instructs cells to form specialised structures within the kidney.  These structures, known as nephrons, are responsible for filtering waste products from the blood to generate urine.

The images show that a gradient in the activity of beta-catenin forms along the growing nephron. It is the concentration of the molecule that instructs cells to form each particular part of the structure.

The researchers learned that by altering the activity of beta-catenin in different places, they could instruct cells to form different parts of the nephron.

A wide range of health problems can occur if nephrons do not work properly. The findings will help scientists to grow nephrons in the lab that can be used to study how kidneys function.

Dr Nils Lindstrom from the University of Edinburgh said that the use of time lapse-imaging will reduce the amount of animals needed for this type of research.

“By using time lapse imaging, we can get detailed information about the signals that control how kidneys form at different time-points in development," he said. 

"This means that we can use fewer animals and obtain much more information than normal imaging techniques.”

The research is published in the journal Elife and was funded by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research.

Image (C) Dr Nils Lindstrom, University of Edinburgh.