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Updated: Jun 9, 2026
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Dissection and Culture of Mouse Embryonic Kidney
Published on: May 17, 2017
Integrin-linked kinase regulates p38 MAPK-dependent cell cycle arrest in ureteric bud development
Joanna Smeeton1, Xi Zhang, Nada Bulus
1Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Development (Cambridge, England)
|September 9, 2010
Summary
Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is crucial for kidney development. Its absence in ureteric buds causes abnormal cell growth and kidney obstruction due to failed p38 MAPK activation.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- The integrin-linked kinase (ILK) complex links beta1 integrins to the actin cytoskeleton.
- ILK and alpha parvin are essential for kidney development, expressed in both ureteric bud and metanephric mesenchyme.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific role of ILK in the ureteric bud during mouse kidney development.
- To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying kidney malformations caused by ILK deletion.
Main Methods:
- Conditional deletion of ILK in the ureteric cell lineage at embryonic day 10.5.
- Analysis of kidney branching morphogenesis, survival rates, and cellular proliferation.
- In vivo and in vitro assessment of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and contact inhibition.
Main Results:
- ILK deletion in ureteric buds led to moderate branching defects and early mortality (8 weeks).
- A key finding was unprecedented intraluminal collecting duct cellular proliferation.
- ILK deletion impaired contact inhibition and p38 MAPK activation in collecting duct cells, independent of ILK's kinase activity.
Conclusions:
- ILK is vital for regulating epithelial cell cycle arrest in renal tubulogenesis.
- ILK plays a critical role in activating p38 MAPK, essential for maintaining normal kidney development and preventing aberrant cell proliferation.
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