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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Implementing Patch Clamp and Live Fluorescence Microscopy to Monitor Functional Properties of Freshly Isolated PKD Epithelium
Published on: September 1, 2015
Defective planar cell polarity in polycystic kidney disease
Evelyne Fischer1, Emilie Legue, Antonia Doyen
1Gene Expression and Disease Unit, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) FRE 2850, Pasteur Institute, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France.
Abstract:
Morphogenesis involves coordinated proliferation, differentiation and spatial distribution of cells. We show that lengthening of renal tubules is associated with mitotic orientation of cells along the tubule axis, demonstrating intrinsic planar cell polarization, and we demonstrate that mitotic orientations are significantly distorted in rodent polycystic kidney models. These results suggest that oriented cell division dictates the maintenance of constant tubule diameter during tubular lengthening and that defects in this process trigger renal tubular enlargement and cyst formation.
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